Fushigi Yume: Mysterious Dream
by Itachiru
Summary: This is the story of two ordinary teenage girls, who get sucked into the world of Naruto... things are turbulent from the beginning. Rated for some language and provocative situations. Later chapters are much more interesting than the first. A little ooc.
1. Chapter 1: Into the black hole!

FUUSHIGI YUME (( Mysterious Dream ))

A story co-written by authors Pyrogirltohru and XxFissshbonesssxX. Both are aspiring artists and talented authors, having written the majority of this tale by hand in several notebooks filling both sides of the college-ruled paper. Editing was done by XxFissshbonesssxX; a drawn version of the story is being worked on by Pyrogirltohru. Neither of these authors claim ownership over the Naruto characters as much as they would like to, and invite you to read on and enjoy. They welcome all comments and critiques. Thank you for your interest.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.01

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

It was a black moonless night in the woods at the edge of the Konohagekure village. In the thick mist covering the trees, two figures could be made out. One was a tall, pale, handsome young man with long black hair. His skin was as pale as a vampire's, and his eyes were blood-red. The other was a short, equally handsome young man. He had short spikey blue hair and golden skin-kissed skin. His face was fierece and his eyes an even fiercer golden brown.

"Ryu!" the shorter one argued, walking forwards, "We shouldn't be doing this! You don't know the outcome of this... this technique! If we're caught performing a forbidden jutsu without knowledge of its end effects... we could be sentanced to death."

"_Relax_, Koryu. We won't get caught. Hatake-san dug his own grave telling us about this. We're far enough from the village anyway, so why worry? You're not _scared_, are you?" Ryu said, pulling out a long scroll from his backpack.

"Well... I... N-no... but--" Koryu was cut off by his taller brother.

"Let's give it a try then," he said soothingly, opening the scroll. "The worst that could happen is the jutsu actually works, and then... and then, well..." The other boy gave him an exasperated look. "Well, then we just see what happens from there, okay?" he finished defensively. His brother looked to his feet, pouting at his brother's tone.

"Yes, onii-chan," Koryu said.

The two brothers chanted in the ancient leaf language a spell that would save the world and reunite many enemies.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.02

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Over 2 centures later, a girl with carmel brown skin was rushing to the mall to meet her frinds. Her name was Jaya. She had hazel brown eyes and wore a pair of comfortable jeans and a red tanktop. She met up with her friend, Monica, in front of Hot Topic. The shorter asian girl was staring off into space as usual, and didn't notice it when her friend was nearly upon her.

"DJ!!!" Jaya squealed, nearly knocking her friend to the floor with a hug.

"Ahh--Jaya! Oh ... it's you," she said, catching her breath. "You scared me for a second."

"Oh! Hehe ... Gomen nasai!" Jaya said, smiling brightly, "C'mon! Let's go! We're supposed to meet Evan and Jesse at Victoria Secret."

"Those perverts. All they think about is sex, sex, food, and sex," Monica grumbled as they walked towards the langire store.

"Uh, DJ? You said sex three times," Jaya pointed out.

"Glad you were listening," she replied with a bite of sarcasm, "it was for emphasis."

Jaya blushed. "Oh! Of course--"

She was cut off by the shouts of two of her best friends, Rachel Berger and Evan Berben, arguing. Both were slender pale-skinned with shoulder-length hair, though Rachel's was straight and Evan had white-blonde curls. Evan was currently in Rachel's face, both figures directing icy blue-eyed glares at each other.

"You fucking SLUT! I told you to stay **away** from me! I didn't _invite_ **you** here!" the blonde boy yelled at Rachel's face.

"What the fuck? I don't have to listen to you! You're not my mother; I can go to the mall whenever I want to!" she retorted promptly.

"Well don't go and break up my group! I invited Jesse, not YOU!" Evan exclaimed.

"What? So now I can't talk to one of MY friends at the mall?" Rachel asked snidely, glaring at her long-time adversary as Evan grit his teeth. The taller blue and green-haired teenager stepped forwards and held a hand to Evan's shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Evan!" Jesse said, holding Evan back firmly.

On the sidelines, Jaya and Monica were watching with different amounts of interest. The smaller girl had her arms crossed over her chest and let out an annoyed sigh. "Oh, look ... another catfight. You know, this gets less interesting every time they--hey, what's wrong?" she asked, noticing the tears that had suddenly welled up in Jaya's eyes. Jaya gasped.

"Huh? O-oh! No-nothing, I-I'm fine," Jaya sniffed, quickly rubbing at her eyes, "I've-I've just got something in my eye ...'s all ..."

"Loser," Monica said with a half scowl as she bopped Jaya lightly on the head, "No crying!" Jaya nodded and tried to ignore the words her friends were saying. In her heart, she hated fighting between good friends more than anything. Fights between people that disliked each other weren't good either, but it hurt more inside to know that good friends had such strong dislike towards each other. Monica saw Jaya's distressed look through her smile and tried to divert her attention from their warring friends with some talk about the weekend. They had been obsessing over their favorite manga, Naruto, as usual, and were working on cosplay outfits. The fighting ensued while they talked, despite Jesse's continued attempts to sooth both parties, and soon the shouts were too loud to ignore. Jaya stopped talking abruptly, tearing her eyes from the shouting blondes who had the attention of the entire mall. It didn't matter that an officer was coming over to investigate the disturbance so much as the fact that every time they got together, Evan and Rachel would break into fights.

_'I don't want to be near this,'_ Jaya thought sadly, hands gripping together as Monica called Jesse and nodded in the direction of the officer who was heading over.

_'I want to go away,' _Jaya thought to herself. _'I need to be away from here.'_

_'I wish I were __**anywhere**__ but here...'_

"Oh man," the long-haired asian said as the correctional officer walked up to the two teenagers, "Oh man, now they're--" Monica blinked twice, attention averted as she noticed a soft glow on her right where Jaya stood. Her eyes widened.

"What the--"

Jaya was _glowing_, and the floor beneath her feet had begun to _disappear_.

"Huh?" Jaya said looking up at Monica and then down at her feet. She gasped in surpise.

"Holy--! What's going on?! I'm see-through!" Jaya said, her voice rising rapidly in pitch.

"Jaya--" Monica whispered, grabbing onto her shoulders as the glowing spread, and the two were enveloped in it as Jesse turned around to see what Jaya had screamed for. His hazel eyes widened as he witnessed the glow expand to cover the two girls.

"JAYA!!!"

When others turned to look in the direction Jaya and Monica were standing, the glow escalated into a blinding flare and suddenly the floor disappeared under them altogether, and with a flash, they vanished completely. A scrunchie and a small bracelet fell to the floor, the only sounds in the mall. Jesse, who had seen the most of it, was the first to recover.

"Whoa ... what in the flying FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!" He sprinted over to the section of the floor they'd been standing on, Evan close behind. "I ... I have no clue--Holy SHIT, where did Monica and Jaya go?!" Rachel came up behind Jesse slowly, in shock that two of her friends had just disappeared, spotting the two artifacts on the floor.

"Wait, hold on! There's something here!" She picked up the two. "Jaya's bracelet and Monica's hair tie ... I'll keep them," she said quickly. Evan stopped freaking out to register the sentence.

"No way," he said, trying to grab the bracelet away from Rachel.

"Whoa, hold on," Jesse said, trying to keep Evan away from the pale girl, "How about we all switch every day--Rachel can hold onto Monica's scrunchie and Evan can take Jaya's bracelet first, and then you can switch... Ok?"

"Fine," Rachel and Evan grumbled at the same time. The two flushed, glaring at each other, then looking away, "**FINE**!!!!"

"Jeez ..." Jesse said, running a hand through his blue and green-dyed hair, "it's impossible to win with you two."

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.03

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"Uhn ..."

Monica grumbled, opening her eyes to see the outline of trees. She looked up to see Jaya sprawled unconscious on a thick tree branch above her. She scrambled up to the branch and pulled Jaya into a sitting position... and then shook her awake.

"Huh? Wha? Uh ..."

"Oi! Jaya! Wake up," Monica said.

"Uh? Oh! OH! Where are we?" Jaya asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I don't know and I don't care--I'm hungry," Monica announced, jumping down from the tree, "Let's go find food."

"W-wait for me!" Jaya called, carefully climbing down the tree trunk.

A few minutes later, Monica suddenly came to a stop, making Jaya run into her.

"Oof! What's wrong?" Jaya asked, rubbing her smarting nose.

"It may sound crazy... but I think we _know_ this guy ..." Monica murmured, indicating a figure lounging under a tree. Jaya looked in the direction her finger was pointing and her eyes widened in disbelief. The spiked silver hair, the dark blue face mask, the orange novel in hand ... it was unmistakable from their angle that it was indeed the one and only Hatake Kakashi. Jaya stood frozen in place. Monica looked interested.

"Maybe he's got food," Monica said, dragging Jaya in the direction of the spiky haired man.

At the moment, Kakashi was at a very interesting part in the story. Two dazzling young women were walking up to the hero, and, hand-in-hand, asked him if he'd allow them to _assist_ _him_ in _any way possible_. His finger was under the page to turn it when two shadows fell on his page. He looked up to see a long-haired girl holding a blushing brown-skinned girl's hand, and wondered briefly if he'd been pulled into the little orange novel, silly as the thought was.

"How can I help you two ladies?" he asked, hoping that the answer would parallel the one in his novel. The long-haired girl looked at him for a moment, half-lidded eyes meeting his, and her lips parted to ask--

"Do you have food?"

Kakashi's face fell. "Ah. No."

The brown-eyed girl blinked, undaunted. "Do you know where we can get some?"

The jounin sighed, standing up. "Aa." _'They can't be ninjas,'_ he deduced, '_no chakra, no weapon holsters, and their footfalls are about as quiet as Naruto's. They're probably villagers from nearby. And they're not being followed.' _Thus, it was acceptable if he showed the two to Konoha.

"Um, thank you, sir!" Jaya piped up as they began to walk.

The jounin nodded. "No problem, miss. Call me Kakashi."

Jaya nodded and corrected her sentence. "Thank you very much, Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Right ..."

They walked in silence for a second, and then Kakashi slipped a casual question their way. "So, what village do you two come from? I haven't seen you before."

Jaya nodded. "That's right, because we're--"

"--from Suna," said Monica smoothly, not even looking to see if Kakashi was surprised by her sudden intervention, "I'm DJ. This is Tohru." She gave the brown-skinned girl a look from the corner of her eyes that read 'go-along-with-this-and-don't-ask-questions', to which Jaya responded by backing their story.

"We've lived in Suna all our lives ... our parents abandoned us when we were five, or younger. And we were kicked out a week ago. We've been here and there, wandering around since then." A soft, sad smile summed up their tale, and Kakashi nodded, reminded of a blue-eyed blonde.

"Aa. Orphans ..."

DJ and Tohru nodded unconsciously. The subject seemed tenative enough to make Kakashi silent for the rest of the walk.

A few minutes later, they arrived in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Kakashi led them to a large stone building. "Do you think you can wait to get food until after you're registered as Konoha citizens?"

DJ looked up sharply, instantly wary. "What?"

The jounin tilted his head towards the building. "If I submit your names and put your family history as orphaned or unknown, then you can become an official citizen of Konoha." Jaya nodded, though DJ was still thinking about it.

"Sure, ok! Thanks, Kakashi-san; we're forever in your debt." When she bowed, DJ gave her a sound smack on the back of her head.

Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Get up," she muttered, her stomach growling, "and don't bow so much. We'll wait out here." Jaya nodded, slightly frazzled at being smacked around so much. Kakashi disappeared into the building, and the two girls were left outside. As they waited, Monica's stomach began to growl longer, in shorter intervals. Jaya grinned.

"Looks like you can't wait," she teased. Suddenly, a noise came from her own stomach. Jaya blushed as Monica grinned at her, and the two laughed at each other.

Kakashi exited the building as Jaya finished wiping tears away from her eyes. "Ok, as of now, you're offically Konoha citizens." The two girls stood abruptly, DJ suspicious and Jaya glad. "That was fast," the former said casually as Kakashi had before, the Jounin noting her mimicking his tone. He made no indication that he noticed though and pulled out several things. The first he handed to Jaya. "This is some money to hold you over until you find a job."

Jaya blushed. "But we couldn't--"

"It's not my money," Kakashi said quickly, to Jaya's relief, "it's the village's. I assumed neither of you had enough money to cover rent for an apartment." When neither girl protested, he continued. "This should cover the rent costs for a month, which is plenty of time to get a job and settle in." DJ snatched the thick wad of bills from Jaya and pocketed it. "Safer with me," she said as explanation when Kakashi stared at her. The jounin tried to shrug it off and moved on. "These are ID cards to carry on you, and this is the address of apartment complexes with openings. Also, there's a personality quiz, and a ninja qualification sheet."

"Qualification sheet?" Jaya asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes. If you were gennin in Suna, then you'd be gennin here in Konoha. You'd have to talk to the Hokage about ... you DO know what ninjas are?" he asked slowly, unsure of the girls' knowledge. DJ and Jaya nodded simutaneously. _'More than you think,'_ DJ thought to herself as Kakashi continued. "Well, if you were chuunin or gennin in Suna, then you'd have to see Hokage-sama about being re-instated as the same ranking here." Jaya nodded, a little lost, but pleased nonetheless.

"Ok, thanks so much, Kakashi-san! We're indebted to you yet again--"

"--and if you bow, I'll hit you 'yet again'," DJ promised, keeping an eye on Jaya's teetering form.

Kakashi shrugged and decided to leave. "All right. Welcome to Konoha," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The two girls took out the list of addresses and headed towards the north end of town.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.04

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Some time later, after they'd found an apartment they liked, the two girls decided to venture out and finally find some food. They spoke with the apartment manager who tried to generously cut their costs until they got jobs but both girls refused and paid for the first week in full, thus cutting their money for food and other living amenities somewhat short. As they were walking down the streets, Jaya spotted a stand that read, _'Ramen: Miso Special Today!' _Without thinking, she said, "Ramen?"

Monica visibly froze. "Food? Where?"

Jaya pointed to the sign. "It says--"

"**Food**," the brown-eyed girl repeated in delight, dragging Jaya over by the arm to claim two seats.

"What can I do ya for, ladies?" asked the cook at the counter.

"I'd like an extra large bowl of the Miso," Monica said. "I'll have a small of the same," Jaya put in, quickly counting out the number of coins they'd need to cough up to cover the small meal. The man grinned. "All right, coming right up!" Monica and Jaya leaned forwards and picked up a pair of chopsticks out of the bin and snapped them in half at exactly the same time.

"Hey... you're not from around here, are you?"

Monica and Jaya turned to face the new voices of a blue-eyed blonde, a pink-haired girl, and a stoic boy. Monica lifted an eyebrow in surprise. _'Hmm... first Kakashi, now these three.' _Jaya was responding to their question while Monica was thinking.

"Yes, we were just shown in! My name is Tohru Tsuraki, and this is my cousin, DJ! Who are you?" she asked happily, trying to make friends.

"None of your business," the stoic boy said, standing and turning before Jaya could get his name. The pink-haired girl frowned and took off after him, berating him about rudeness, but in fact she too had left without leaving her name. Only the blonde grinned at them and slipped them a word. Two, in fact. "Uzumaki Naruto!" After that he bounded away to catch up with his team.

Monica stared at the meal that had just arrived. "Well, Sasuke sucks," she decided, picking up her chopsticks and digging in. "I suppose," Jaya said, turning to her bowl to eat her own food. As she ate, she took out the personality quiz and the ninja 'qualification' sheet. She handed one set to her 'cousin', along with a pencil. "We should fill these things out and see if we can get headbands," Jaya suggested, though Monica had already begun to bubble in answers on both. The questions were nearly a joke to both girls, highly obsessed with Naruto, and even ended up choking on some ramen because of the simplicity of the quiz.

Finishing their quizzes and meals a few minutes later, the two girls headed out to an address on the bottom of the Ninja 'qualification' sheet. Monica had an idea of who they would end up meeting as the Ninja academy came into view. Jaya led them through the halls until they came to a stop in front of one door. The brown-skinned girl knocked twice before opening the door to reveal a curious chuunin teacher.

"Oh? What can I do for you two ladies today?" he asked softly, a smile spreading across his parent-like features.

"Hatake-san gave us some things to fill out," Monica said before Jaya could introduce them to the chuunin, "and he gave us directions to get here." She held out her papers, Jaya mimicking her. The schoolteacher nodded, taking the papers from them. "Oh? And what do we have ..." He paused, scanning the paper's contents. His eyes flickered from test to test, eyebrows knitting together for an instant as he scanned their answers.

"You two want to become ninjas?"

Jaya nodded. "Yes."

"You come from Suna ... I see--well, then it shouldn't be a problem re-instating you as gennin here." He looked up from the papers. "You were only gennin, weren't you?"

"Yes," Monica said, cutting off another answer from Jaya, who pouted and began to look frustrated. The chuunin nodded, not noticing their odd on-and-off answers.

"All right! I'll take these straight to the Hokage. The paperwork won't take more than an hour, if you want to come with me."

"Sure!" exclaimed Jaya, not letting Monica say a thing. The long-haired girl just nodded, aware that Jaya was a little angry at her for interrupting her before. They followed Iruka out of the classroom.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.05

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

About an hour and a half later, the two girls strode down the streets, this time with identical silver metal plates in their possession. Neither girl had felt bold enough to wear it yet, and had resolved to be 'normal' villagers until the next morning, in the mean time they would get mediocre chores done without anyone bugging them. Jaya decided to shop for food, Monica decided to buy other odd commodities that they would need to live. They counted the money left over and were delighted to know that they could probably live off of it for two months instead of one if they kept up their spending-saving trend.

They arrived at their apartment after another half hour, arms full of bags, and locked themselves in.

Inside the apartment was some furniture from previous renters, and not in bad condition. There was a couch, two arm chairs, a coffee table, and four bar stools by the kitchen counter. Other than that, the creamy walls were barren of decor of any kind. A few lamps stood in the corners of the room, and the coffee table had several candles in candle holders. The floor was carpeted with a plain blue carpet, and the ceiling was comfortably four feet above both girls' heads. The bedrooms had blue walls, housed two beds, and one bathroom including a toilet and bath shower. Both girls checked every nook and cranny of the apartment, discovering no food or amenities. The apartment had running water hot and cold and a working refrigerator and stove. There was also an oven, but to their dismay, no fireplace. After looking around, they flopped down on the comfortable couch.

"Well, what now?" Jaya asked, glancing sleepily over at her roommate.

"I think we should sleep. We've got instructions to meet our new team at 6:00 AM tomorrow morning, and I want to sleep."

"Who do you think'll be on our team?"

Monica didn't respond out loud. _'I'm sure you know,' _she thought to herself as she abandoned the curious girl in exchange for a warm bed, and soon Jaya was alone in her conscious state, left to wonder on her friend's knowing silence.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

End . Chapters . 1-5

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Next Chapters: 6-10.

Again, thank you for your interest, all comments and critiques are welcomed.


	2. Chapter 2: Sexy sasuke

FUUSHIGI YUME (( Mysterious Dream ))

A story co-written by authors Pyrogirltohru and XxFissshbonesssxX. Both are aspiring artists and talented authors, having written the majority of this tale by hand in several notebooks filling both sides of the college-ruled paper. Editing was done by XxFissshbonesssxX; a drawn version of the story is being worked on by Pyrogirltohru. Neither of these authors claim ownership over the Naruto characters as much as they would like to, and invite you to read on and enjoy. They welcome all comments and critiques. Thank you for your interest.

Chapters 6-10

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.06

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Back in the year 2005, Evan Berben was pacing around in his room. Once in a while, he'd stop and pick up Jaya's bracelet. It was a red glass bracelet with green blood stones fitted into various places around the brand of glass.

Suddenly, the bracelet hummed, glowing. Evan's eyes widened. He ran over to the table and picked up the bracelet. "JAYA!!! Can you hear me?" he shouted, hoping something would come of it. Nothing could be heard except for his mother, calling, "Ev? Are you okay?"

The glow flickered until it went out completely. The brand of glass sat silently, glowlessly, in his hand.

"Shit!" he cursed, bringing his fist down on the table.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.07

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Jaya and Monica were walking to meet their new cell and its leader. They heard a voice explode from up ahead as they neared the destination that had been given to them.

"**IMPOSTER!!!!!**"

Jaya jumped, Monica covering her ringing ears. "I think they're over there," she deduced as they began to head over in the direction of the yell, to which a second voice was replying.

"Relax, I'm not an imposter. I just need to make a good impression because we have two new students joining our cell."

"WHAT?!" came the first voice, one that the two girls pinned as a certain blonde's. "Why do we have to take on more students?!"

"Well, the Hokage thinks we're a strong enough team to hold onto two new arrivals. Gai's team also had a new member added, I think. So are you saying that you can't handle having two more teammates?" The first voice didn't respond; the second voice's comment seemed to have given him food for thought. At that moment, Jaya and Monica chose to make their appearance. "Ah, speaking of said teammates, here they are." The silver-haired jounin stopped and looked at them more carefully.

''Aa. You two." The pink haired girl looked back and forth between the two girls and her teacher. "Do you know them, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Sakura," he said, "In fact, I met them yesterday." He shifted on his feet and looked at them. "Well, since all I know is your names, why don't you introduce yourselves to us a little more?" Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura nodded, looking at the two girls. Jaya caught the look in Monica's eyes as she stared back at Sasuke. _'She has a plan...'_ she thought to herself as the normally quiet girl spoke up first.

"Our names are DJ and Tohru Uchiha," she dead-panned, Sasuke tensing at the words.

"What did you say?"

"You're kidding! MORE people like Sasuke-teme?!"

"Shut up, Naruto!!!"

Kakashi sweat dropped. _'That can't be right ...'_

Sasuke was on the edge, though, one foot forward and a fist raised in defense. "And how exactly did you acquire Uchiha blood?" he hissed out, livid that people that were obviously not related to him were using his last name, "You're both girls, one of you has a dark complexion, and the Uchihas have a pure bloodline!" Naruto jumped away from Sasuke, looking comically outraged and disgusted.

"ICNEST!" he shouted, causing a blushing Sakura to smack him on the head.

"BAKA!!! That's **not** what he meant!!!"

"Then what did he mean?" he asked, wounded both literally and figuratively. Sakura huffed as Sasuke stared down the two new girls, "He meant that his family never married people with dark skin, no offense Tohru-kun."

"Gottcha," DJ dead-panned, her ears twitching upwards.

"Yeah," Jaya said, suddenly all grin, "Our real names are Tohru Tsuraki and DJ."

The three teens made different faces at the lack of a last name and Jaya looked innocently confused at their faces. "Eh? Nandayo?" she quipped.

"Nothing," Kakashi said quickly, closing the subject as he pulled out his little orange novel. "Since the introductions are over, we should test your abilities to see what your level of skill is compared to that of these three." He indicated his students with a nod. Sasuke, however, had a different angle and he voiced it.

"Sensei, how about you let us test them instead?" Sasuke suggested. "We'll be working together, so it would be easier for us to measure their strength ourselves."

"Yeah! Let us test them!" Sakura said out loud. Inner Sakura was fuming, '_They will PAY for using Sasuke-kun's name as a joke!!!_''

Kakashi eyed the two eager gennin with only a half-lidded eye and a bored expression. "Hmm ... all right. This could be interesting." He flipped to where a corner of his book was turned down as a bookmark. "Begin!"

At his word, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke flung themselves at Tohru, figuring that she would be the weakest of the two. DJ leapt to the side to avoid being in Tohru's battle, and Tohru flinched, expecting impact, but when she didn't feel one, she peaked an eye open in confusion. To her surprise, everything was suddenly moving in slow motion. She effortlessly dodged each punch, and landed on her feet a short distance away. Somewhat astonished and then angry, the other gennin turned around to attack again.

Five minutes later, Sakura hit the ground, panting and unwilling to continue. Naruto and Sasuke joined her, stubbornly unable to collapse until they were sure that they didn't look weak in front of the other. "You're ... good," Sakura panted out, leaning forwards on her knees. _'Maybe she does possess Uchiha blood,_' Sasuke thought to himself in slight disbelief. "What do you eat?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

"Looks like you went overboard," DJ called from the sidelines. Tohru wasn't listening. She fell to her knees, looking at her hands. Her best friend frowned in concern, coming to her side.

"Hey ... what's wrong?" DJ said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Wha ... what AM I?" Tohru said, still looking at her hands in fear.

"Well, you're fast, that's for sure," DJ said, hoping to cheer her up.

"She's not just fast," Sasuke muttered darkly, "it's like she can move at ten times our speed."

Kakashi flipped a page in his novel. "Well, it's obvious that Tohru-kun is far better than you first thought, eh?" he asked mockingly, team 7 flinching at the tone. "Well ... from what I saw, I say that Tohru-kun is good enough to handle herself in a tight spot." His single visible eye lazily moved from Jaya to Monica, and he continued, "Once you're ready, you can test your other teammate next."

Without warning, Sasuke was back on his feet, lunging at a girl that he thought would be as fast as Tohru. DJ's eyes widened as a fist nearly rammed into her jaw, only missing by a second as her body moved to barely avoid the blow. Sakura's fist followed Sasuke's and DJ jumped back to get out of their grasp, but Naruto had been waiting for her to do that, and sent five shuriken at her. She barely dodged _that_, two of them ripping holes in her pant legs and one nicking the corner of her shirt. She struggled to keep up with their movements, which had slowed considerably from their fight with Jaya. Sasuke frowned, letting up as Naruto and Sakura easily backed her into a corner, DJ only defending their attacks, unable to counter their speed or power.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, I guess DJ isn't quite on Tohru-kun's level ... in fact she might be below Naruto or Sakura ..."

However, Tohru had noticed something about her friend.

Sasuke had stopped fighting, since DJ was having trouble fending off Sakura and Naruto. "She's a joke," he said to himself, "especially compared with her cousin. It's obvious she has no Uchiha blood ..."

Naruto pulled a punch, seeing two bruises on her arms from their fight already, and decided to let up. "Your guard is non-existent, you know?" he asked.

DJ grit her teeth, then went wide-eyed as a kunai was embedded in her forehead.

Kakashi looked up in surprise. He hadn't predicted that anything like this would happen at all. Sakura and Naruto jumped away from DJ to stare at Tohru, who'd thrown the kunai. Naruto was the first to react.

"T-TOHRU!!! Why'd you do that?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. Tohru frowned. "I thought so ..."

'DJ' exploded with a POOF!

"... it's a doppleganger."

Naruto stared dumbly at the smoke as it disappeared.

Tohru called out to the trees, "DJ! They want to test YOU, not a clone!" When this recieved no response, Tohru thought for a moment. Then she called out coyly, "Oh, for me? Thanks, Naruto, for the _food_."

_**CRASH.**_

Team 7 turned around to see DJ, who had fallen out of a tree behind them. The long haired girl was looking around, slightly frazzled at the fall.

"Food?" she asked curiously.

Kakashi stared, then tried to shrug it off nonchalantly. '_I didn't sense her for a second ...'_

Tohru frowned. "How long were you planning on hiding up there?"

DJ shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is I really didn't want to be here, and suddenly I was in a tree and I was down there fighting, so I sat back and watched things go." Tohru and Kakashi sighed in unison. "Well, we'll still have to test you later on, but it looks like your other teammates are worn down right now ... so I'll test you."

"No!"

Kakashi turned to look at Sakura questioningly. "Hm?"

Sakura flushed a little, both from embarrassment and exhaustion. "Well, we got to test Tohru-kun ... I think it's only fair that we be the ones to test DJ, too." Kakashi kept his gaze on her for a second longer and then nodded. "Fair enough. We'll continue this tomorrow, if there are no missions to do."

"Ok. If you're done, are we free to go?" asked Tohru. Kakashi waved at them, disappearing in a whirl of leaves.

"All right! Sakura-chaaaaan, wanna go on a date with me?" Naruto asked, grinning ear to ear.

"No."

"Awww!!!" DJ looked at Naruto for a second and then called his name. "Oi, Naruto!"

The blonde turned to face her. "Eh? What's up?"

"Wanna go out for ramen? My treat!" Both Sakura and Naruto spun on the spot at her offer.

"Really?!" Naruto asked, grinning even wider. Sakura frowned, looking angry and then confused, and then turned away to follow Sasuke, who had begun to leave.

"Yeah, I'll treat **everyone**," DJ said, calling Sasuke's attention to her. The pale boy had stopped walking, and looked back over his shoulder.

"Everyone?" he asked, intrigued.

"Yeah," DJ affirmed, "even the weird, perverted, spikey-haired guy that's standing behind me."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other as Kakashi's eyebrow rose. How had DJ known that Kakashi had come back?

"You're treating them?" Kakashi asked curiously. DJ nodded. "You can come too, pervert," she said as Naruto and Sakura began arguing over where they wanted to go. Kakashi nodded.

"Then it's settled--me and DJ will treat everyone. Let's go."

DJ rose an eyebrow at him. "I can pay."

"I know," Kakashi said, "but I don't mind treating my team."

"That's so nice, Kakashi-sensei," Tohru said, coming up to walk along side DJ and their new teacher, "thank you very much!" She bowed, Kakashi blinking at the formality. "Please, Tohru-kun, not so formal! Let's go get some food." The brown-skinned girl nodded, and picked up a faster pace to catch up with DJ who had gone on ahead to talk with Naruto. Kakashi watched his students, new and old, walk in front of him as they headed back towards town.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.08

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Kakashi was not a happy man.

Even splitting the bill with DJ, he ended up with a very empty wallet after their dinner excursion. Naruto and DJ had won against Sakura and Sasuke on the choice dining establishment, and they had all ended up at Ichiraku. The man behind the counter was delighted to have so many customers, and, seeing Naruto was there as well, didn't hesitate to tell them the meal was going to be half-off. Naruto and DJ dug in, Tohru not far behind. Sasuke and Sakura bet Kakashi on who would out-eat who first, and Kakashi and Sasuke ended up losing 1000 ¥ to Sakura when DJ and Tohru stopped eating at the same time. The group had fun all that night, ending when the man announced that he'd be closing for the day within the hour. They left, a hefty tip on the countertop, and departed.

"See you guys tomorrow," DJ called as Sasuke and Sakura and Naruto turned to go the opposite way of her, Tohru and Kakashi. "Yeah, see you tomorrow!" Tohru called after them. "Bye, Tohru-chan, DJ-chan!" Naruto yelled, earning him a bash from Sakura as the three walked down the street in the opposite direction.

"Oh? Is your house this way?" Tohru asked as she and DJ started off away from the ramen stand.

"No," Kakashi said.

"We can manage our selves," DJ said, eyeing Kakashi curiously.

"I feel like going this way," he countered, pulling out his novel. "It's not that far out of my way." The long-haired girl fell silent and they walked.

"We're here," Tohru said a few minutes later, coming to a stop in front of a door. Kakashi barely looked up from his book. "Mm... see you tomorrow." He disappeared with a swirl of leaves. DJ pulled Tohru into their apartment, shut the door, and turned on her friend.

"You idiot!!!"

Jaya jumped. "Wh-what? Did I do something?"

DJ paused. "You didn't? ..."

Jaya cocked her head to the side. "Eh?"

DJ stared at her. Then, she waved a hand in dismissal. "Oh, it's nothing. Nothing at all." Jaya blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Hey ..."

"Don't mind me," DJ called as she hopped towards the kitchen, "I was just talking to myself."

"Augh!!! You're hiding something," Jaya accused, lunging at her. DJ dodged and bounded into the kitchen.

"Am not!"

The brown-skinned girl followed DJ around the table and then over the counter, back into the den.

"Are too!"

Over the arm chair.

"Am not!"

Dodging behind the couch.

"Are too!"

Laughing and rolling to the side as another form closes in.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Arrgh!"

Caught, DJ rolled with Jaya attached firmly to her neck in an attempt to throttle the answers out of her. They rolled into the foot of the arm chair and stopped, grinning.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am _not_."

"Are **too**!"

"Shut up."

"Are--hey!"

They both laughed, and then stood up. "I'm kinda tired," DJ said to no one in particular, moving towards the room that held their beds. "You going to sleep already?" Jaya asked, "It's just after 6!"

"I know. G'night."

Jaya shook her head. "You're ... she paused, and DJ stopped halfway into the room, turning back to question Jaya's pause. "Mmm?"

"It's just... Evan ... and Rachel," Jaya said quietly, "I wonder how they're doing..."

DJ's eyes widened slightly and then her face went blank. "Aa."

"They're probably freaking out ... and we've been enjoying ourselves," Jaya said, and DJ walked over to her and promptly hit her over the head.

"Dork," she muttered affectionately, "How would they feel if they found out all you did was mope around?" Jaya blinked and then nodded slowly. "I guess you're right ..."

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Both girls looked at the door, surprised. "Maybe it's Kakashi," DJ suggested as she pulled out a kunai. Jaya nodded, pulling out a kunai of her own. Neither girl believed that Kakashi would come back so soon after leaving them; he had no reason. And it was never bad to be prepared ... Tohru opened the door.

Uchiha Sasuke blinked wide-eyed at the sight of the two girls armed at the door. "Ah ... hi. Bad time?"

DJ, looking almost disappointed, slid the kunai back into its holster and retreated to the bedroom, nothing else to do. Tohru stayed behind to chat with Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, what brings you out here?" she asked smiling. Sasuke cleared his throat. "Well, I, uh, I thought that you'd get a house--er, an apartment ... around here." Jaya beamed. "That's right! Wanna come in?" Sasuke nodded quickly, and Tohru led him inside. She showed him the living room-den, then the kitchen, and the amenities they'd been left with, plus some ones they'd purchased earlier that day. Sasuke followed with a strange silence.

"Well, that's it," Tohru said, after showing Sasuke around their new living quarters. "What about those doors?" Sasuke asked, pointing to the doors opposing the kitchen. "We didn't go in there." Tohru had excluded the doors from her tour, and at their mention, she flushed slightly. "Ah, well, that is, ano ... those doors lead to the bedroom and DJ's in there now."

Sasuke frowned. "She has a problem with us looking in the room?" he asked in confusion.

A grin spread across Tohru's face. "When DJ's alone with her friends, she doesn't wear a shirt."

Sasuke turned red faster than a stop light. "Right, I, uh, seeing as it's late and all, uh, and--bye!" he said, dashing out the door, slamming it on his way out. Tohru laughed to herself as DJ came out to investigate the noise. Sure enough, she was in a sports bra, shirtless.

"What was all that?" she asked. Tohru looked at her friend and waved at her as if to shoo her back. "DJ! You scared off our guest! Go put on a shirt!"

DJ groaned. "But it's so HOT!!!" Tohru pointed at their bedroom. "Go! Shirt," she said playfully.

DJ grinned, then frowned. Tohru looked up. "What's wrong, DJ?" DJ pointed to Tohru's wrist, and Tohru looked down. The gold bracelet around her wrist was gone. Tohru took a deep breath, and then ...

"_SASUKE, YOU BASTARD, COME BACK HERE RIGHT __**NOW**_!!!!"

She tore out the door, DJ following after she'd slid a shirt on. The brown-haired girl ran right past a blue-haired boy, nearly knocking him over. DJ came up after her and nodded at him as she followed her friend, noticing the skinny gold bracelet he held in his hand.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.09

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Tohru pounded on the door relentlessly, as if breaking the door down would get her her bracelets back sooner. DJ stepped onto the door mat next to her. "Settle down," she admonished, "it's the middle of the night. Let's not wake the entire vill--" She froze as her friend turned a half-sane grin on her.

"_I DON'T __**CARE**__--I __**WANT**__ MY __**BRACELET**__ BACK_!!!"

DJ blinked. "Ah. Ok then."

The door opened and Sasuke was slammed to the wall of his house by an enraged Tohru. "WHERE ARE MY BRACELETS YOU JERK?!" she yelled. Sasuke blinked sleepily, "Huh? What are you DOING here? It's gotta be two in the morning ..."

Tohru blinked and actually looked at the Uchiha. The poor boy had gotten straight out of bed and as a result had on only his boxers. His hair was untamed, and stuck out at angles that were odd, even for him. He couldn't keep his eyes open for half a second, and Tohru realized that there was no way he could've been alert enough to be at their house, let alone steal from them.

Next to her, DJ was giving Sasuke a glance up and down and made sure he was catching her inspection before nodding. "Nice," she said as she slipped back out the door.

Sasuke's sleepiness vanished and his eyes widened as he registered that the girl had just complemented on his body. He stared at Tohru, who poked the middle of his bare chest and muttered "sexy" before blushing and running after DJ

The two girls disappeared from the Uchiha estates into the dark Konoha night, leaving a confused Sasuke clad in his boxers standing in his door way.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.10

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

DJ awoke to the smell of fried rice.

In the kitchen, Tohru had busied herself with making some kind of breakfast. An array of dishes were set out already in the space between two empty matching plates, including eggs, bacon, and plain white rice. There was a well-mixed fruit salad, and sugar and honey set out on the table, as well as soy sauce and other seasonings for their food. The caramel-skinned girl hummed softly to herself as she prepared the end of their meal, grabbing a pair of empty drink cups from a cupboard and setting them on the table. She turned back to the stove and jumped a foot in the air at the sight of DJ sitting on the counter.

"I smelled food," DJ murmured in explanation as she looked at the stove, Tohru gripping her chest in an attempt to slow her racing heart.

"**DJ**! You scared me," she said as her friend hopped down off the counter, clad in an extra-large, extra-long Tshirt with the sand logo across it. DJ bopped her head. "_Cook_," she ordered.

Tohru sighed. "Ok. You go sit at the table, baka."

In a few minutes, they sat down to a well-rounded meal. Both girls dug in hungrily.

"So... who was that last night?" Tohru asked after a while. DJ (with a mouthful of rice) didn't respond. "DJ! C'mon! You KNOW that couldn't've been Sasuke at our house last night. Whoever it was used Henage no Jutsu to transform to _look_ like Sasuke," she snapped. DJ swallowed.

"We passed him on the way to Sasuke's," she informed Tohru.

The brown-skinned girl blinked, then slammed her fist on the table.

"WHAAAAAATT???? Why didn't you **say** anything?!" she demanded.

DJ munched happily on her food then shrugged to Tohru's outburst. "I don't think you would've listened to me last night--you were intent on seeing Sasuke shirtless."

Tohru flushed and bit her tongue. DJ grinned at her, causing the blushing girl to jump to her feet. "L-let's go! We're skipping training," she decided, grabbing DJ by the arm and shooting out the door.

"But--!!! Jaya! My _foooooood_..." DJ wailed helplessly as she was hauled out the door.

The lonely table sat...

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

End . Chapters . 6-10

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Thanks again for your time and interest. : )


	3. Chapter 3: We're NOT Uchihas!

FUUSHIGI YUME

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.11

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Naruto and Sakura arrived first at the training grounds. "Ah-hah! Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naurto yelled, grinning. Sakura smiled weakly back and said, "H-hey Naruto ..." She looked around. "Wow. I guess we're here first today." Her smile slipped into a smirk. "Looks like you finally beat Sasuke-kun."

Naruto beamed. Right up until a voice in his ear snorted, "As if."

The blonde jumped a foot in the air.

"SASUKE, you bastard!"

"_NARUTO_!"

"Don't sneak up on people like that!"

"Stop yelling, dobe."

"Hah! You're just jealous because you **lost** to me!"

"At what? Being here early? Please; that's nothing to be proud of."

"What?! Why you--"

"Naruto!"

The blonde avoided Sakura's fist, ignoring the grin on Sasuke's face. _'Hmph--that smug bastard...' _

Then, the blonde's frown warped into a grin, and Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "What's that smirk for, dobe?" he asked, a bit unnerved by the blonde's sudden swing in emotions.

"You know," Naruto said mysteriously.

Sasuke frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You _know_," Naruto stressed, eyes sliding down Sasuke's body and suddenly it clicked, "I _know_ why it took you so long to get here."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke hissed, though Naruto knew that he had the Uchiha now.

"I saw DJ and Tohru this morning ... they were lookin' for you," Naruto said in a half sing-song voice, knowing that it was killing Sasuke, who was beginning to blush. Sakura blinked, semi-oblivious.

"What did they want? Directions to the training grounds?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "They--" Sasuke jumped over to him and shoved a hand over the blonde's mouth.

Sakura blinked, "Hey, what's going on guys?"

Naruto broke away from Sasuke's hand and blurted, "They were at his house last night!!!"

Sakura's eyes widened and Sasuke tensed. Naruto squirmed in Sasuke's grip. "It's true! They said last night they were at your place, and that you--" Sasuke put his hand back over Naruto's mouth. "Shut it, dobe! You make it sound dirty," he hissed. Inner Sakura was fuming. '_They were at Sasuke-kun's house ... thwy were at Sasuke-kun's house ... and I wasn't? How DARE THEY? HOW __**DARE**__ THEY?!'_ Naruto thought of a way to get Sasuke off him, and tested it. Licking the palm of the other boy's hand seemed effective, as the offended Uchiha shoved the blonde away so hard that Naruto tumbled across the floor and landed in a heap twenty feet away. Sasuke wiped his hand on his pants as Naruto re-oriented himself and sung at the top of his lungs.

"_Sasuke and Tohru and DJ, too! All last night, what did __**they**__ do?_"

He dodged a punch as the enraged and flushing Sasuke flung himself at his loud-mouthed teammate. "Shut **UP**, Naruto!" he yelled. Sakura looked mortified.

"They were looking for a bracelet!" Sasuke shouted in his defense.

"Then why're you blushing?" Naruto teased as he caught the kunai Sasuke sent at his chest. The comment served to turn the dark-haired boy's face a shade redder. Kakashi appeared behind Sasuke as he rose another kunai.

"Well, sorry I'm ... oh?" He looked around, his single visible eye scanning the area his three students occupied. "Where're the new students?"

Naruto grinned and pointed to Sasuke, who dove at the latter and covered his mouth with a hand. "I'll treat you to ramen if you keep your yap shut for the rest of the day," he ground out as Naruto struggled. That caused Naruto to stop and nod. "Deal," he mouthed onto the other boy's hand. As they separated, Kakashi snickered while Sakura looked even more mortified.

"Let's keep our hands off of each other in front of a lady, boys," Kakashi mock-scolded as Naruto and Sasuke realized the positions they'd been in. It was all Sasuke could do not to slug his teacher as the idiot beamed at all of them, clearly enjoying the situation.

"Our first priority is to find our teammates, then I'll hand out the mission. I got a 5-man mission specifically for today, but we can't start it without the rest of the team." Naruto grumbled until Kakashi continued, "We'll meet at Ichiraku at 12, Sasuke's treat."

Sasuke's eye twitched as the blonde jumped in joy. Sakura growled and whacked him over the head as they headed into town. The Uchiha heir looked up at his silver-haired teacher

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Aa?"

"I hate you."

"Aa."

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.12

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Later that day, Kakashi came across a determined Tohru. As he spied her from one of the trees, he wondered. '_She doesn't look like she's up to any trouble ... more like she's __**looking**__ for trouble ... I wonder where her cousin is?'_ Shutting his orange book, he deemed the situation worthy of further investigation, and got closer. He jumped within thirty feet of the brown-skinned girl, careful to conceal his movements until the last moment, when he dropped down out of the tree. Instead of startling the girl, he was flipped onto his back and pinned before his feet could hit the ground.

"OK, you bastard, where's my ... my ..." Tohru blinked, "... oh my ... se-se-sensei!"

"Yo," Kakashi said weakly as Tohru let go of his vest.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I really am sorry," Tohru said quickly, "have I hurt you? Are you--"

A hand cut off her rambling. The silver haired man rubbed the back of his neck and checked discreetly for injury. Finding himself in relatively good condition, he sat up and shook his head. "I'm impressed," he said, addressing her reflexes. Tohru nodded absently, looking worriedly at his neck. Kakashi watched her, amused, and took a stray strand of her hair between two fingers. Tohru suddenly noticed her hair in her teacher's hands, and their closeness. "Your hair's soft," Kakashi noted, bringing the lock to his lips, then to his nose. "And fragrant."

Tohru blinked. "Kakashi-sensei ...?"

The silver-haired man looked down at his student.

"It smells nice," he said finally, dropping the strand and forcing a smile as Tohru looked at him blankly. False understanding drew across Tohru's face and she beamed. "Th-thank you very much, sensei!" Kakashi nodded, pulling out his orange novel.

"Tohru?"

The book nearly fell out of Kakashi's hands. DJ emerged from behind him, looking curiously satisfied at his obviously startled appearance. "I found the guy," she said mysteriously, the words having no meaning to the jounin, but serving as a trigger for the other gennin.

"**WHAT?!?!!?** WHERE IS THAT BASTARD? HE'll WISH HE WAS NEVER _BORN_ WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH 'IM!" she thundered, stampeding in the direction from which DJ'd come. The student and teacher left studied each other in silence. The silence only lasted a moment.

"Pervert," DJ said finally, earning a twitch from her sensei.

"..."

"You realize I'm gonna give you hell before I let you get that close again?"

Kakashi suddenly realized that she'd seen the entire exchange moments ago, and had a pretty good feeling that she'd follow up on her claim. Crossing his arms, he held back a frustrated grin as the teen trekked after her cousin.

"I think ... that I hate you."

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.13

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"KISAMA! GIMMIE BACK MY BRACELET _BACK_! _RIGHT_! _**NOW**_!"

The light-blue haired boy grunted as he was thrown against a tree, the dark-skinned girl's fist gripping his collar. "Get off me, man!" he demanded, shoving her hands away from him and freeing himself from the bark. Tohru growled and thrust an accusing finger at his pocket. "Turn 'em out, buster, I betcha there's a gold bracelet and a scrunchie in ONE of those pockets!" The boy stared at her blankly for a moment before a sneer crossed his face.

"Yeah," he said, sliding a hand into a pocket and slipping on the scrunchie, "what of it? You gonna _make_ me give 'em back?" He slid the other hand into the pocket opposite and withdrew the bracelet. Tohru's eyes glittered maddeningly as her bracelet dangled from his fingers tauntingly.

"Shuuji-kun!" boomed a voice from the trees, causing Tohru to blink, "You should not steal! It is wrong and unjust! The youth must never take from their peers what can be achieved by hard work or simply by asking!"

Tohru swore she could see a grin and someone giving a thumbs-up sign in the top of a tree.

"Shut up, Lee," said a white-eyed boy, stepping out from behind a tree trunk near the two, "and Shuuji; give her back her things. It's unbecoming to steal from a lady." Tohru flushed lightly, but kept her eyes on the ringlet dangling in the blue-haired boy's hands.

"I don't have to," Shuuji snorted, "She can't make me. If she wants them she'll have to take them, fair and square."

"Oh, no you don't," Tohru said, "You wanna fight? Bring it!"

Neji frowned, ready to put a stop to the entire thing when a hand pushed him to the side. A long-haired girl meandered towards the two grumpily; Neji could clearly read the anger all over her even without his Byakugan. He stared at the grumbling teen as Tohru prepared to attack. The two lunged at each other and DJ grabbed the back of Tohru's shirt and tossed her aside, catching the rushing, wide-eyed Shuuji's shirt instead. She stared him down for a few seconds before swiping her hand out and turning to Tohru.

"Here," she grunted, tossing the bracelet back to its owner and sliding the scrunchie back onto her own wrist. Tohru wass about to say thanks when DJ sighed.

"That's it, we're going home."

Tohru frowned. "But DJ, I have to get this bastard back--"

The long-haired girl grabbed the front of Tohru's shirt and stared her hungrily in the face, eyes narrowed to slits like a snake and mouth in an eerie grin. "You owe me an **entire** **meal**," she ground out, eye twitching, "so let's **GO**." She dropped her friend and began to stalk off in the general direction of their house. Shuuji shouted at their backs. "Chickening out already?"

Tohru turned around slowly. "Don't make me set her on you," she hissed, pointing at DJ, who gave Shuuji a look that rivaled the void of a black hole.

Needless to say Shuuji didn't feel the need to comment on their retreat any more and shut his yap.

Once the two girls were out of sight, Neji and Lee dropped down next to Shuuji, followed by an annoyed Tenten. "Shuuji, you idiot! What kind of a ninja steals? That's totally against moral codes!" Shuuji snorted.

"Ain't got no moral codes," he spat, right before barely blocking a blow from Neji, which sent him spiraling tot he ground, grunting in discomfort. The white-eyed boy's fist radiated heat, and his posture fumed silently. Shuuji stared at him for a moment before looking at the ground.

"The next time you take what is theirs, I won't wait 'till they're gone," Neji warned quietly, Tenten nodding. Lee looked at the blue-haired boy a little helplessly, as Shuuji hid his face. He mumbled something.

Neji's eyes narrowed. "What was that, _thief_? Speak up."

"I **asked** who those bitches **were**!" Shuuji shouted, "I ain't seen 'em around here before, and I ain't seen 'em around anywhere else, either!"

"Gai-sensei said that there were two new gennin admitted to another team today besides you, Shuuji," Tenten offered carefully, "and I hear that they're from the Uchiha clan."

Neji and Lee tensed at this; Shuuji's eyes darkened. The taijutsu expert wanted to fight the girls now, and Neji felt a pang of the same sensation. The four began the search for their sensei as their headed back towards the village.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.14

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Rachel held Monica's scrunchie in her hand._ 'Monica ... where the hell are you?' _she thought to herself. Suddenly, the object in her hands gave off a golden glow, shocking the blonde. Without another thought, Rachel shouted at the hair tie.

"Monica! Jaya! Are you there? Answer me, please!"

The glow receded, even as Rachel yelled.

"Monica? Jaya? ..."

She spoke softly, as though trying to coax the glow back, but it died as she felt tears well in her eyes.

"... damn ..."

She collapsed onto the floor, salty droplets spotting the scrunchie's surface.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.15

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

When Tohru and DJ had finished their meal, they decided to walk around to digest. A half an hour later, Tohru moved closer to DJ and discretely whispered, "We're being watched. I think it's trouble." She received a snort.

"Tell someone who doesn't know," DJ said before suddenly stopping and jumping to a random tree three feet back. Tohru stared up into the branches, watching silently until a figure fell out, landing head-first on the ground. DJ landed on her feet next to the disgruntled boy, eyeing him unfavorably as he righted himself.

"What the HELL do you want?" DJ asked, pulling out a kunai. Shuuji held up his hands to show he meant no harm.

"Wait a minute," Tohru said, looking up at another tree, "there's more still." She jumped up into the tree, and felt the branch shift as the other gennin dropped down from the tree to avoid being pulled out like Shuuji had been. Neji landed, unlike his teammate, on his feet. Tohru also armed herself visibly, pulling out a kunai from its holster.

"And who are you?" she asked as DJ looked him over with half-surprise, half-recognition. Neji noted the odd combination before addressing Tohru's question. "We were in the area, and wanted to see if the rumors were true."

"And what rumors would those be?" Tohru asked incredulously.

"That there were two new Uchihas in the village," Neji replied.

DJ and Tohru exchanged a wide-eyed glance, and then cracked up.

Stunned at the sudden outburst, Neji and Shuuji could only stare at the girls who, only moments ago, had been staring them down. DJ recovered some breath first and tried to clear the confusion from the two boy's faces.

"We-we're not Uchiha-ha-ha haha! U-Uchihas," she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, "I don't know what Sasuke's been saying, but w-we're not related." She gave a deep sigh and stopped laughing, though a grin still sat on her face.

"Ye-yeah ... It was a joke," Tohru said, still getting over her own case of giggles. Shuuji and Neji both stared at the two girls.

"But ... you show promise! Your skills far exceed any elite ninjas, even those of our sensei," Lee reasoned.

DJ rose an eyebrow skeptically. "How'd'you figure that?"

"We put up our best guard ... and you saw right through it," Neji ground out, slightly embarrassed at having made to admit it. Shuuji piped up. "Even our sensei couldn't sense us ... but you--you managed to pull us right out of the trees!"

"That was just you, Shuuji," Neji snapped, still frustrated at being spotted by some green gennin girls.

"Didja ever think that he was _letting_ you get away with hiding yourself?" DJ input, unfazed, "Maito Gai's pretty sharp."

Neji ground his teeth, then noted something. _'Wait... How does she know that Gai is our sensei?'_

"Look, we're really not related to Sasuke in any way," Tohru said, waving it off, "We'll see you later, Neji-san, Shuuji-san." With that, the two girls continued their walk.

When they were out of earshot, Shuuji turned to Neji and growled. "Well? It's pretty obvious that they're from the Uchiha clan. No other clan is that fast, or that good." Neji rose an eyebrow. "I beg to differ," he murmured, "the Hyuugas are second in that line. But neither of them had eyes like ours ..."

He paused, and Shuuji frowned. "What is it?" he asked, slightly curious.

"It's the one with long hair," he said thoughtfully, "her eyes weren't white, but they were very ..." He trailed off, and Shuuji sweat dropped as the Hyuuga left the sentence unfinished, turning back towards the village. First the dark-skinned girl, then her cousin, now Neji ... why was everyone being so mysterious?!

The blue-haired boy ran a frustrated hand through his light blue locks and yelled before running to catch up.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

End . Chapters . 6-10

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Thanks again for your interest and time. : )

Next chapters 16-20


	4. Chapter 4: Unexpected Guests

FUUSHIGI YUME

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.16

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Tohru turned over in her bed as light poured in through the window._ 'Morning already?' _She sighed, and then felt something next to her. Something _warm_. Her eyes snapped open and Kakashi grinned at her.

"Morning, sexy."

It took Tohru all of 0.5 seconds to respond.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

**POW**.

The silver-haired man hit the wall and exploded in a puff of smoke, DJ grinning lop-sidedly at her confused friend as the smoke cleared. "Good morning, sexy," she repeated as Tohru realized what had happened. "You shoulda seen the LOOK on your face!"

"_**DJ**_!" She leapt from the bed, chasing after her friend. "You come back here _right now_! I'll show you how it **wasn't** funny!"

"Ha! Let's see you try, sexy!" DJ called over her shoulder as she scooped up a change of clothes and retreated into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Tohru growled and banged on the wood between her and her soon-to-be-victim. "DJ! You come outta there right now!"

"No!"

"_DJ_!"

"I'm changing, you pervert!"

"Ha-ha, very funny," Tohru replied drily, "at least hurry up so we can get out of here! We're late ..."

An hour later, Tohru and DJ appeared in front of their team, one blushing and the other sporting a large lump on her head and an even larger grin.

"Well, don't you two look happy this morning," Kakashi monotoned, raising an eyebrow at the lump on DJ's head.

"You could say so ..." DJ trailed off, smirking at her cousin, who shot her a death glare.

"Ok, listen up--we have a new mission today..."

"Aw man, sensei, **please** tell me that we don't have to find that fat lady's cat again," Naruto groaned as Kakashi began with his usual tone, the one that said 'this-is-going-to-be-a-pain-in-the-rear-but-we're-getting-paid-so-suck-it-up'. Both Inner Sakura and Sakura frowned at the possibilities that tone held; DJ grimaced at the thought of having to weed gardens, and Sasuke didn't look too fond of the prospect of having to carry old people's groceries. Fortunately, Kakahi shook his head, to the delight of his students.

"This is a B-rank mission," he said, surprising Sakura and Tohru, and causing the two boys to smirk in anticipation. Kakashi noted this and happily drenched their hopes. "Sorry, this isn't a single-cell mission. We're teaming up with another team ..." He smirked and looked around at the group. "I want you all to perform to the best of your abilities, and try not to die." With that, he waved and disappered.

The five members of team seven looked at each other. Sasuke coughed.

"So ..."

"He never told us where we were meeting that team, right?" DJ asked with some annoyance. Sasuke nodded.

"Ok. Why don't we split up and find them?" Tohru suggested.

Sakura nodded. "That'd be a good idea ... if Kakashi-sensei had told us who we were going to be working with."

The group sweat dropped.

"He really is an idiot, then?" DJ asked Naruto as the group halfheartedly decided to stick together. The blonde nodded, eyes rolled skyward. "You don't know the half of it," he murmured as they headed to the center of the village.

About ten minutes later, DJ and Tohru winced as Gai announced himself at the sight of them. "Ah! My rival's youthful subordinates!!! How nice to finally see you! I see that Kakashi's lateness is beginning to rub off on you!" Naruto's eye twitched and shouted, "If we were even a bit like him we wouldn't be here for another two hours!!!"

Somewhere on the other side of the village, a silver-haired jounin sneezed.

Back to the recently expanded Team 7, Tohru's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of two smirking boys on Gai's team.

"Wel, well... it seems that fate has divined that we meet again, Uchiha-san, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke looked up, confused. "What's with the double greeting?" he asked. The older gennin didn't spare him a second glance. "I wasn't speaking to you," Neji said, his gaze on Tohru and DJ. "I was referring to the kunoichis to your right."

"It's DJ," said the long-haired girl, "DJ Sabaku."

"And my name's Tohru _Tsuraki_, not Uchiha," her cousin corrected, glaring at the offending persons. Shuuji and Neji just smirked at her.

"You were right; they ARE vicious," Tenten said coyly, putting one hand on her hip and resting her other elbow on Shuuji's shoulder. Sakura could sense heat roll off her two female teammates; anger from Tohru and annoyance from DJ. Before any sparks could fly, Gai intervened.

"Ahhh, rivalry! While I agree that youthful rivalry is good, we will be working together for a while." His grin softened slightly to a smile. "So I must ask you to put aside your beautiful rivalry for now, and work together as one!" Tears streamed from his eyes.

Lee was sobbing.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to barf.

Sakura, Tohru, Naruto, and DJ settled for grimacing at the sight.

And Tenten threw something at her sensei's bowl-cut.

Life was good.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.17

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

After receiving instructions from the Hokage and meeting up with Kakashi again, the small group set off on their short mission. "Ok. So we've gotta protect this idiot from sand-nins," Shuuji said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the aforementioned man, "Shouldn't be too hard."

"Excuse me?" The man piped up, looking offended, but was paid no mind as the gennins continued to talk amongst them selves.

"Don't forget that the Hokage classified this as a class B mission," Neji said warily, keeping his eyes trained on their charge, "I don't think we'll face any gennins from the sand..."

Tohru sighed. _'I wish that we could get there soon ... I'd like to go back to training.'_

"Me too," DJ grumbled. Tohru looked at DJ, and DJ's visible eye widened.

_'Telepathy?'_

_'Seems like it,' _DJ thought as they walked along, their revelation unnoticed and not shared with the others._ 'Don't tell.'_

_'I won't,_' Tohru promised before they continued on their way.

Night fell soon, and the group stopped to set up camp. A few hours later, they were sitting around a fire and eating a meal of fried rice, ramen and salmon made by Tohru, since no one else in the group wanted to attempt cooking. Once most of the food had been consumed and Naruto started to yawn, Kakashi spoke up. "Ok. Night shifts: Naruto, Neji, Sasuke, and DJ. Everyone else get a good rest."

"I can take a shift, sensei," Tohru piped up over a yawn.

"Yeah right. Get some sleep," DJ said, shoving the other girl lightly. The brown-skinned girl shook her head. "I'm going to take a bath first. We passed a hot springs on the way up ..." She wandered off in the general direction of the springs. The other two girls agreed to join her shortly after. "We're off! Take care of the campsite while we're gone, Lee," Tenten ordered happily as she and DJ trudged off after Tohru. The two girls joined Tohru in the hot springs, folding her clothes into a square pile and sliding into the steaming pool.

"So, how's being with team 7?" began Tenten conversationally.

The three talked for quite some time, laughing every now and then. After a while, there were footsteps that approached the pool with a certain loudness. Tohru and Tenten whipped out kunai from their nearby holsters, ready to attack whatever peeked at them.

"Hey," said DJ, poking out from behind a tree, "there's something going on at camp. Get back." Tohru sighed and dropped her kunai, though Tenten had nearly launched hers. The brown-haired girl looked back and forth between the DJ in the spring and the DJ fully-clothed. "Which one ... how ..."

The clothed DJ disappeared. "It's a doppelganger," Tohru explained as the real thing got out of the hot springs, towel around her body.

"I sent some out when we set out to watch camp," DJ said as they drew on dry clothes, "I guess it's a good thing." She stood guard as Tenten changed, Tohru charging on ahead to the camp to provide any assistance she could.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.18

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Sasuke and Lee were panting, standing rather uneasily in front of their charge. The man was trembling at the sight before him; the three sand nins had appeared from nowhere in the night and attacked. It had been Naruto's watch, and the blonde had screamed a warning before he was thrown back against a tree and knocked out. Neji was supporting an unconscious Shuuji next to Naruto. Jade eyes bored down on the two boys still standing in the way.

"Relinquish the man," began the blonde teenager at the red head's side, "or we'll have to use force."

Kakashi shook his head. "We can't do that," he said, actually eyeing the three nins warily over the top of his orange novel, "We were assigned to his protection."

The other boy of the sand trio thrust a finger at the trembling man. "You don't even know who he is, what he's done--"

"That's true," Kakashi acknowledged, causing the boy's gaze to focus on him, "but we are ninja; we are tools to be used by our village. If our Kage wishes the protection of this man, then we shall protect him to the best of our abilities." Although his words were cold, his single eye shifted over toward their charge, curious. The man gave a nervous laugh. '_Well... this situation was uncalled for. But, since I'm here and since they're worn down ..._' he thought, making several hand seals.

"SENSEI!!!!" Tohru shouted, charging onto the campsite. The man's head shot out, aimed for what had distracted him. Kakashi's single eye widened, and the blonde kunoichi drew her giant fan in preparation to attack. Tohru felt sharp fangs prick her skin, then a blur flashed over her shoulder, and pain shot down her arm. Tohru heard a distinct 'shit' from somewhere behind her before she was hit with a wave of pain, fire rushing down her arm as blood ran down from the wound.

DJ shot at Orochimaru's retreating head, the amber eyes widening as her fist connected with an audible 'CRACK', sending it at the red-headed boy from the sand. The girl didn't even pause to see if it'd been caught; she was back at Tohru's side looking over the wound she'd made a whole lot worse.

"This is seriously going to suck," she muttered to herself before pulling out a kunai. Before she could raise it, Sasuke was at her side.

"Don't," he said curtly, taking the kunai from her, "don't cut yourself--"

"But she needs blood," DJ argued, eyes trained on the wound she'd helped inflict. She heard a soft hiss and turned to see blood beginning to flow from Sasuke's forearm. She stared at him openly before he pressed his forearm to Tohru's upper arm. "Glory hog," DJ muttered, watching their blood mingle. Sakura, who had just woken Naruto, watched as the blonde rose and walked over, gauze in hand.

"Aa, look what you did, you bastard," Naruto complained loudly, "you let Tohru-chan get hurt while I was out!" Sasuke shot him a glare as the blonde sat down next to them and moved Sasuke's arm away from Tohru's wound. The gaze fell when Naruto addressed the gash. The blonde frowned as he checked both of their blood flows. Neji and Tenten worked on reviving Shuuji as Lee sat down next to them; exhausted. The blonde kunoichi of the sand team was looking at Kakashi, who was the only member of the Konoha team still looking at them. Orochimaru's body was being held in a pile of sand. "Well? What will you do now that we have this man?"

Kakashi sighed dramatically. "Well, since all my subordinates are busy repairing themselves, I'd say that we'll have to abort this mission. We're in no condition to try and take back that man; we'll have to pull out for the time being."

Tenmari sighed internally._ 'Good. I wouldn't want to risk Gaara fighting two Konoha jounin... there would be a high chance of '__**it**__' getting out ...' _She and the other boy turned to leave; however the middle boy hadn't moved. Kankuro touched his shoulder. "Hey, kiddo, mission accomplished. We can go back now." She didn't say 'we can go home'. They never returned to a 'home'. A home was a place where people that cared about each other resided. She couldn't fool her brothers, telling them they were going home when no one there cared about them. Gaara watched the group of gennin behind Kakash's back. "Back... hn." Tenmari bit her lip, seeing his hesitation, but they really needed to get going. She reached out, chancing his wrath, and touched his shoulder. She felt him tense at her touch, but gently coaxed him. "C'mon," she said, "Let's go back." They turned, Gaara's sand securing the man inside, and disappeared.

Behind Kakashi, Tohru was beginning to breathe hard.

"Sasuke, you _asshole_!!!"

The gennin jumped at the sudden outburst. Naruto gestured to Tohru's arm while calling Sakura over. "You should've let DJ give her blood--you've lost blood already! There isn't enough!" He grabbed the bloody kunai from Sasuke's stunned hands and slit his own forearm. He tossed the tool to the approaching Sakura and grabbed Sasuke's arm, thrusting his against the self-inflicted wound. Black eyes watched, surprised and maybe a little relieved.

"... Thanks..." he said softly, letting himself show how tired he really was as the blonde blocked him from the other's view. Naruto nodded, silent understanding passing between them. Sakura, in the meantime, cut her own untouched arm and gently pressed the open wound against Tohru's, sighing slightly as the blood mingled on their skin.

DJ looked at the four bleeding teenagers and rolled her eyes.

"Next time you all decide to go _insane_, **warn** me first," she said, lying her head on Tohru's undamaged shoulder.

Naruto and Sasuke pulled their arms apart as Shuuji woke up, and Sakura and Tohru drew their wounds apart, the latter hissing slightly from the pain of fresh air on her wound. DJ quickly cleaned and wrapped the wound, three clones popping into existence to help the others. As soon as they were done, they poofed away, and Sasuke looked over at Tohru with a look of hidden amusement.

"Now it's true."

"Eh?" Tohru said, looking up.

Sasuke held up his arm. "Now you are really of Uchiha blood."

DJ looked between the two and then calmly slugged Sasuke in the face.

Naruto swallowed, edging away from the fuming gennin as her cousin tried to calm her down. DJ turned to Naruto, who jumped. "You too," she said, pointing at him. Naruto blinked. "Wha--"

"Now you've got Uchiha blood, too," she clarified, then, almost mysteriously, she continued in a soft voice, "and both of you have the power to awaken the Sharingan."

Team seven's eyes widened.

Sasuke shot to his feet and grabbed DJ's shirt with his other arm. "How do you know about the Sharingan?" he hissed. She simply pushed his hands away. "The Sharingan is a trait inherited only by select members of the Uchiha clan, and also of Hatake Kakashi," DJ recited, as if reading from a book. Kakashi stared at DJ as the girl turned away from Sasuke to lean back on Tohru's shoulder. Neji, who had watched and heard the entire exchange, stored their faces and names away for later usage. Kakashi looked around.

"Aa ... well, seeing as it's really still late, and seeing how we've failed our mission, we should probably get moving back to Konoha."

Neji got to his feet and walked over to Sasuke. "Looks like you need some help," he said, extending his hand. Sasuke looked blankly at the hand for a moment before reaching out with one of his own, tentative until it grasped the other boy's hand. Lee offered Naruto a hand but the boy refused and jumped to his feet, only to trip over nothing and fall backwards into Lee. He **then** accepted Lee's generous offer. Tenten insisted on carrying Sakura in her arms, the pink-haired kunoich blushing at Tenten's strength. Shuuji walked up to Tohru and began to kneel down in order to scoop her up when Kakashi appeared next to him.

"I think I'll have to take her back," he said to Shuuji. The aforementioned gennin frowned.

"But Hatake-sensei, I can capable of carrying her; I won't drop her if that's what you're worried about."

"Well I won't give you the chance," Kakashi replied.

"I'm not giving **either** of you the chance," DJ retorted from some 50 feet away, Tohru slung over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "C'mon. We're heading back."

Both Kakashi and Shuuji stared, wondering when the other girl had picked Tohru up, and followed as the two teams deserted the campsite.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.19

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Back in Konoha, Naruto collapsed against his bed, falling asleep instantly. In his own house, Sasuke pulled the covers over his head, deep in thought about Tohru and Naruto, who now shared his blood. Sakura slipped into her own silky covers, saying goodnight to no one in particular. And Kakashi removed his mask in an empty apartment, falling back against a sheet-less futon to dream of Obito, Rin, and his own sensei. Neji slept soundly in the Hyuuga estate, Tenten and Lee taking their rest there as well. The only ones still active after the mission's failure were Tohru, DJ, and Shuuji. The two girls had gone home while Shuuji had followed them. Inside, DJ and Tohru collapsed on their own beds. The blue-haired boy grinned once he was sure they had fallen into a deep slumber. Breaking in would be no problem at al--

**CRACK**

With a dull thud, Shuuji fell limp in the dark figure's arms. The shorter boy tossed Shuuji's unmoving form into the nearest alley, and disappeared, the wind toying with the pile of sand he'd left behind.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

00.20

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Tohru woke early the next morning to the sound of DJ yelling in pain, and the scent of smoke lingering in the air. _'Wha... DJ? DJ? Crap!'_ Struggling out of bed, she gathered strength and threw off the covers constricting her. Bursting through the door that ajoined the bedroom to the living room, she dashed into the kitchen, fearing the worst. "DJ--!!!!" She paused at the sight before her. The long-haired girl was gripping her burnt hand from her crouching position on the counter, glaring full-force at the overturned frying pan full of what once might have resembled an omelet. The charred mess was still smoking, and the entire stovetop was singed from flames. A half-empty bottle of cooking oil stood innocently next to the mess. DJ looked up from the wreck and beamed.

"Food-sama," she said, almost in tears. Tohru burst out laughing.

After cleaning up DJ's terrible mess, Tohru made them a real breakfast before they headed out. They hadn't received any special orders for the day, so they decided to head for the bridge where they had first met team 7, minus Kakashi. Heading over, Tohru caught a glimpse of a boy who looked familiar. They finally made it to the bridge, and were slightly comforted to see the rest of their teamates already there. Tohru walked up to the group with a big smile.

"Good Morning!"

Sakura jogged over to her and took hold of her arm. "So? How'd you sleep?"

Tohru blushed. "Oh, I was fine... Were you worried about me?"

"Of course we were," blurted Sasuke, then shut up when everyone turned to stare at him.

"How could we not worry about you?" demanded Naruto in lieu of the silence, "you had that huge wound on your shoulder from that freak!"

"I can't believe I was so stupid," DJ grumbled to herself. Tohru turned on her quickly. "What're you talking about?" DJ crossed her arms over her chest. "If I hadn't kicked his head at that angle the wound wouldn've been so much less severe! I just ..." She paused, then let out a tired sigh. "I just feel like a complete idiot." Tohru frowned. "Don't be like that--it's not your fault!"

"Don't say that," DJ said, eyes cast on the ground, "If I'd been a second earlier, the wound could've been avoided all together!"

Naruto and Sakura were silent, for the first time witnessing a hint of disagreement between the two.

"DJ, it's not your fault at all! Don't blame yourself," Tohru chided pleadingly. DJ was about to retort when she saw that Tohru wasn't willing to argue on the issue further. Just as Kakashi popped in, DJ wrapped her arms around Tohru's waist and said, "I love you."

Kakashi fell off the bridge.

Tohru beamed. "Oh, DJ!" She glomped the other girl around the neck as Kakashi came back up onto the bridge. DJ saw him over Tohru's shoulder and ran a hand along Tohru's hip before tightening her grip. Kakashi's eye widened and he fell backwards into the water again.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow at the development, a light blush rising to his cheeks, and Naruto was biting his lower lip, trying to hold back a grin.

"I love you Tohru," DJ said with a smile. "I love you, too!" exclaimed Tohru.

"I love you guys," Sakura said, shocking her male teammates, along with the silver-haired man that had just crawled back up onto dry land. DJ and Tohru each opened an arm to the pink-haired girl, inviting her into the hug. The three girls squeezed each other and giggled, just in time to make Kakashi fall off the bridge for the _third_ time. The three girls pulled back and looked curiously over the edge, DJ alone privy to the reason Kakashi was so slippery.

"Kakashi-sensei!!!" Sakura called, "You ok?"

"Yes, he said, jumping up onto the bridge, "Just a tad wet this morning." He sent DJ a glance and then announced that they'd be working on teamwork that day. Tohru automatically walked towards DJ, but Kakashi rose his voice in objection. "Today, I think Tsuraki should work with me." DJ looked at him and shook her head. "It'd be silly to do that at your level. It would be more beneficial to pair us off two against three and then oversee the progress." Kakashi sighed. _'I know that's more effective for the good of the team... but it's not what I want...'_ But Sasuke had already seen the effectiveness of DJ's proposal.

"Well, that sounds about right. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto, attack DJ."

Tohru frowned. "What about me?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck. "Well, since the strength is already evenly distributed, you can watch with me."

DJ gave the older man a flat look. "You know perfectly well that if you pair Sasuke or Naruto on my team and leave Tohru with the other two, then it'll be even." Kakashi frowned, but before he could protest, Sasuke had defected to DJ's team. DJ rose an eyebrow at Kakashi and the corner of her mouth rose in a smirk. Kakashi didn't dignifiy her with a response as Tohru and Naruto greeted each other with high-fives. He shook his head, and announced the beginning of the battle.

Sasuke and DJ separated as Naruto charged head first at them. Sakura and Tohru aimed a flurry of shuriken at them as they dodged Naruto, when DJ hit the ground with an open-palm. A wall of earth rose between her and Sakura, who jumped away to re-evaluate her battle strategy.

The youngest Uchiha clashed with Tohru, kunai to kunai, and then jumped back as she took in a deep breath. Sasuke dodged several fireballs, parrying with one of his own. DJ spotted something Sakura threw, and lunged at her own teammate, knocking him to the ground as they connected. An explosion rocked the area and threw everyone to the ground. There was a thin curtain of smoke laid over the battlefield. Kakashi removed his headband to watch Sakura set up two traps in the thin smoke. _'Good girl,'_ he thought.

DJ and Sasuke lay in wait until most of the smoke was gone, then sprang at Tohru together. Sakura snapped the trigger for the first trap, which sent several kunais into the clone's bodies. They dissolved violently in a puff of smoke while the real DJ and Sasuke shot towards Naruto. The blonde countered DJ's punch but fell with a sweep of Sasuke's leg, while Sakura unleashed the second trap. Naruto turned into a log while DJ and Sasuke dodged the array of throwing stars that had been sent at them. "Now!" Naruto shouted as the opposing team was caught off-guard and he flung himself into the fray, sending some twenty shuriken at the two. Sasuke flung himself to the side while DJ stared at the attack, frozen, and then shut her eyes.

Everyone's eyes widened as the metal sunk into a wall of sand.

The long-haired asian opened her eyes in surprise. "What happe..."

Kakashi spotted the red-head who was the reason for the failure of their last mission. Immediately he dropped down onto the field. "State your name and business in the leaf," he said curtly, "You're from the village hidden in the sand, so you better have a damn good reason for being here."

DJ gave the boy a good long look and then said, "Sensei, I'll trade Sasuke for this guy."

Sasuke immediately decided he didn't like the boy. "So what's your name?" he asked quickly, glaring daggers at him. .

"...Gaara," the red head replied, looking at those on the field, passing his eyes over Kakashi and Sasuke, then slowing down to study Tohru, Naruto, and Sakura. Then his gaze fell back to DJ.

"... you're all right," he stated more than asked as DJ got to her feet.

"Thanks," she said as Sasuke fumed, "who's in the trees behind you?" Two of the three that came out at the sound of DJ's voice were familiar, Gaara's brother and sister, but the other character was unknown to everyone, including DJ and Tohru. He bore suna's headband and was lighting a cigarette in his left hand. Kakashi grimaced slightly at the sight of the joint. _'He's some ten years too young smoking,_' he thought to himself as he thought of Asuma.

"Who's that?" DJ asked as Tohru exploded. "WHAAAAA!!!! You've got brown skin!" She almost flew over to him and touched his cheeks and the exposed skin of his arms.

"Whoa, whoa, back off," he said, blocking her hands, "you can look all you want, babe, but I don't like my ladies grabby."

Kakashi's eye twitched.

"My name's Kurai, by the way," he said, taking a drag from his cigarette. Tohru backed up apologetically, relenting that she had only ever seen very few people with skin the same color as hers. Gaara looked between Tohru and Kurai and rose a nonexistent eyebrow. "You know each other?" he asked. Kurai nodded, grinning. "Sure! These two were in the sand Not a week ago." Kakashi's eyes widened. _'They were telling the truth?'_

DJ and Tohru looked at each other. _'But...'_ Tohru thought, confused. _'I'm not asking questions,' _DJ thought back, 'I'm going with it.'

Gaara nodded. "Yes, but do you know them personally?"

Kurai grinned. "Hah! No way, man, s'not like we're related or anything. That'd be too weird, me hitting on my cousin. Besides, she's from the Uchiha clan," he said, jerking a thumb in Tohru's direction. DJ and Tohru looked at each other.

_'What's up with this?'_ thought Tohru, really confused, _'everything is happening like we said! First I got Uchiha blood, then we're following up with our 'i'm from the sand' act!'_

DJ sighed and looked at the clear, blue sky. "Well, while we're at it, it'd be nice to have some rain."

Tohru laughed. "DJ, that's silly. Look at the sky! It's such a beautiful--"

**KABOOM**.

"--day?"

The clouds that had been bright and sunny were now dark and foreboding. Kakashi ended the training session in favor of returning his team to their respective homes. Before they departed, DJ turned to the youngest of the Sand siblings. Gaara gave her a blank look.

"You wanna come stay our place?" she asked. The red head nodded, oblivious to the looks Kakashi and Sasuke were sending him, one suspicious and the other angry.

"Would you like to stay, too, Kurai-kun?" asked Tohru, smiling brightly. Kurai looked at Kakashi, then threw the cigarette on the ground, stepped it out, and sent Tohru a smooth look. "Sure thing, babe," he said, walking closer to the dark-skinned girl, "but how 'bout you tell me your name first, Uchiha-kun?"

"Ano... it's Tsuraki. Tohru Tsuraki, actually," Tohru said as Kurai stepped just into her personal space. The flame-haired boy grinned as her face heated slightly. "Heh... you're even cuter up close. What'd'ya say we--"

He was cut off by Kakashi, who practically yanked the poor boy off of her. "I'll thank you to refrain from flirting with my students in my presence," he said, leveling a hot glare at the dark-skinned boy. "Hey, that hurt man!" Kurai protested, rubbing his back.

DJ sighed at the scene which had unfolded before her and grabbed Gaara's sleeve. "Let's go."

"What? You were serious?" Kakashi asked in disbelief.

"Uh, yeah. Why?" DJ said, brow raised in confusion.

"What can't I spend the night?" blurted Kakashi and Sasuke at the same time. They both paused and looked at each other.

"Gaara looks like he wouldn't make a move on anyone, unlike you two," Sakura pointed out flatly.

"Yeah! Poor Tohru wouldn't last the night with you two over!" Naruto predicted. He stopped laughing when his face was planted into the nearest tree trunk.

"If everyone's **finished** here, then let's **go**," DJ said tartly, pulling Tohru and Gaara away in the direction of their house, Kurai close behind.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

End . Chapters . 16-20

o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Thanks again for your interest and time. : )

Next chapters 21-25


	5. Chapter 5: Family pains

00.21

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Naruto, but I won't give up!

At the dinner table, the four sat to a wonderful meal

by Tohru. DJ sent Tohru a kiss and then dug into the

food. Tohru nodded and got up from the table, heading

to the front door. She pulled open the door. "Hello,

sensei. Can I help yo--" Tohru said, opening the door.

She was cut off by Kakashi falling on top of her. The

older man rose to his elbows and looked down at Tohru

intently. "Do you mind if I stay here for a while?" he

asked, the teen blushing under him. Suddenly, Kakashi

was lifted off her and stood upright, DJ's fist in his

shirt.

"Welcome to our house," she said, "whaddyou want?"

Kakashi looked past her into the house where Kurai was

lounging on his chair. "I'm worried about that boy

that made a move on Tohru earlier," he confessed as DJ

let go of him. She nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him,"

she said. Kakashi looked surprised.

"Why are you agreeing with me?" DJ looked back at

Kakashi. "I'm watching you, too." He face-vaulted.

"Aa..." From behind her, Tohru popped up. "Wanna have

dinner with us, too?" DJ looked at Tohru's questioning

face and then sighed. "Well, there IS enough food, and

I guess he's already here..." She stepped back inside

as Tohru showed Kakashi in and pulled up another

chair. Kurai caught Kakshi's eye and the two glared at

each other as the eating continued. Gaara spared both

boys a glance before returning to his own food. Tohru

ate happily for a few minutes, then slammed her hands

on the table.

"Would you PLEASE refrain from glaring at each other

at the table? It's RUDE." DJ lifted her head out of

her food. "Oh? So you noticed?"

"Hard not to," Tohru bit out, causing Kakashi and

Kurai to sweatdrop. "Good," DJ mused, returning to her

food, "I guess you're getting more alert." She and

Gaara returned to their own worlds. When everyone was

finished, Tohru took up everyone's plates.

"All right," DJ said, standing, "Thank you for coming,

Kakashi-sensei, Kurai-kun, but please don't come again

soon." The dark-skinned boy face-vaulted. "But I'm

staying with you two," he protested. DJ rolled her

eyes. "Right. Almost forgot." She turned to Kakashi.

"But YOU have a house. Get to it." Tohru sighed and

took Kakashi's arm. "I'll walk you out, sensei," she

offered. At the door, Kakashi paused and glanced at

DJ, who had followed them. "Can I speak to Tohru

alone?" The dark haired girl frowned but nodded.

"Sure, it's not me you're talking to," she said. "But

you keep her out over an hour and I'll be pissed."

"Well you sure are protective of her, mother," Kakashi

muttered as they left, Tohru giggling behind a hand.

For the first few minutes, Kakashi and Tohru walked in

silence. They came upon a different set of apartments,

the jounin mentally counting the doors to his own.

Then, Kakashi broke the silence. "I'm sorry."

Tohru stopped and looked up at her new sensei. "Hm?"

she asked.

"For being rude," Kakashi clarified, now standing in

front of his doorway.

"Oh! No, it's okay, it wasn't just you. But I

wonder... why were you two glaring at each other?"

Tohru asked, confused.

Kakashi's eyes widened, and he burst out laughing.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei? Na-nandaiyo?" Tohru asked,

clueless. "You're so naive it's scary," Kakashi said,

laughing. Tohru flushed and then smiled in spite of

herself. She gave the older man a playful smack on the

arm, just as the sky broke into rain above them. Tohru

blinked up at the sky when Kakashi put an arm around

her and one over their heads to shield them somewhat

from the rain. Tohru flushed at the closeness as

Kakashi's dark blue mask moved right next to her

forehead. "Listen... someday I'll want to tell you

something. Something important. When that day comes, I

hope you'll listen." He rested his head on top of hers

for a moment, then released her, the flushed gennin

nodding at her sensei. "Of course, sensei. I'll always

listen."

Kakashi nodded. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Tohru said, kissing

his cheek swiftly before turning and leaving in the

direction of her own house.

Back at the house, DJ was sitting by the clock in her

night gown... er, extra-large T shirt, waiting for

Tohru to return. Gaara came into the room, sitting

next to her. "Is he that bad?" he asked curiously.

"Nah," DJ responded, "I just like to terrorize him."

Gaara sweatdropped. "It's Tohru I'm worried about.

She's so naive it's scary," DJ confessed, leaving her

spot to fetch a box of pocky from the cupboard. Gaara

nodded, accepting a stick of pocky from DJ. "Nice

shorts," DJ said, glancing at Gaara's boxers. They

were black with red shuriken. The zipper was the

symbol for Suna.

DJ and Gaara went through about three boxes of pocky

together, and were getting bored. DJ stuck the last

stick of the box in Gaara's mouth, and clamped onto

the other end herself. "Staring contest," she

declared. The two stared at each other, unblinking.

They didn't notice Tohru enter the living room with

Kurai until she giggled. Neither blinked. 'Staring

contest,' Gaara projected, surprising Tohru with

telepathy. It went on a while until Kurai poked

Gaara's side, causing the younger boy to blink and

jump, breaking the pocky in two. "That works, too," DJ

said, slightly disappointed that their game had been

ended early. She pointed at Kurai. "You can sleep on

the couch." The dark-skinned boy sweatdropped. "I

guess that's cool... " DJ nodded. "You're sleeping

out here, too, Gaara," she said matter-of-factly to

the other boy, who simply nodded and finished the

pocky in his mouth. DJ pulled Tohru along into their

own rooms for the night.

00.22

The next day, after breakfast, the four left to meet

Team 7. As they were walking, Tohru caught the eye of

some random villagers and smiled at them. She recieved

a glare in return. She heard people whisper her name,

and then 'slut' in the same sentence. Tohru

immediately loosened her hair to hide her face. DJ

glanced over to see her shoulders shaking. "You ok?"

DJ asked, looking through the curtain of hair. "You

seem out of it." Kurai nodded his agreement, reaching

out to brush her hair slightly away from her face.

"Keep your chin up," he said, "We're almost there."

When they reached the bridge, DJ noticed that Tohru

wouldn't meet Kakashi's eye. She glared at the silver

haired man, who proceeded to look innocent and begin

evaluating Sakura's techniques. Kakashi watched the

rest of his students work, and had them practice the

different fighting stances just to see if they had

their footing. DJ's stances were correct, partly from

watching the others and partly from several years of

karate. He noticed, however, that Tohru's stances were

a bit off, so he went behind her, and held her hands

in his while instructing her on the proper foot

positions.

"Look!" said a woman loudly from the street, "She's at

it again! The little tramp is going to bring shame to

the Hatake name."

She was hailed with several shocked gazes and a

searing glare, but her words had done their damage,

and Tohru was gone, Kakashi clutching a log to his

chest.

00.23

Tohru sat against a tree, sobbing and shaking, when

she felt a shadow block her sunlight. She tensed and

looked up to see a person that looked like Sasuke.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun? H-How did you f-find me?" Tohru asked,

wiping her eyes quickly.

"I'm sorry...I think you have the wrong person,"

replied the stranger. Tohru looked up to see an older

boy, possibly 18 or 19, that looked like Sasuke. "Oh!

I'm sorry, I thought you were a friend of mine," Tohru

said quickly, standing up.

"It's fine, I get that all the time," the man said.

"Oh! You know Sasuke?"

"We're related," the stranger said, stepping forwards.

"Did you want to visit him?" asked Tohru.

"No," said the man with a slight smile, "I'm terribly

shy. But thank you for the offer. I'd be so nervous

around all those houses, though... I don't know how I

could ever meet him without going to that busy little

city."

"OH? That's all right, I'll bring him to you--I'm sure

he'll be happy to see you," Tohru replied.

"Thank you... I'm fear I'm as nosy as I am shy. Why

were you painting your pretty cheeks blue with your

tears?" the man asked, wiping a lone tear from Tohru's

cheek with his thumb. Tohru turned, slightly flush

from the contact. "It's nothing." The man turned her

around and gazed at her for a long moment, then sat

her down. "Let me listen to you in exchange for your

help with Sasuke." Tohru nodded, eyes still slightly

bleary from the tears.

Half an hour later, the man said, "So... you're being

accused of an illicit love affair with your teacher?"

"Mmm-hmm... and I know sensei would never love

me..." she trailed off. The man smiled softly and

stood. "It's getting late. You should go. Your team

will be worried, you know."

"Thank you. I'll bring Sasuke here, I promise," Tohru

said, standing up.

"I look forwards to it," he said, disappearing.

As soon as she returned, she was bombarded with

questions. "Where the hell did you go!" DJ asked,

glomping her. "Yeah!" Naruto and Sakura agreed,

tackling her as well. "It's ok--Really, I'm fine,

aren't I?" Tohru asked, smiling. DJ frowned. "'S not

what I asked," she muttered in Tohru's ear as the

others nodded and smiled along with her. "Well... at

least tell us where you're going off to next time,"

Sasuke said. Tohru smiled and then pulled Sasuke aside

from the group. "Sasuke-kun, while I was in the woods

I met someone who looked like an older version of you!

He says that you're related, but he's too shy to come

down into the village." Sasuke nodded. "Ok. We'll meet

this person first thing tomorrow. Be up by six, all

right?"

Tohru nodded and rose her hand to give the other boy a

high-five. Sasuke looked at her hand curiously. Tohru

looked at him expectantly, but the black-haired boy

just looked at her, confused. "High-five?" Tohru asked

meekly. "High-what?" Sasuke asked, confused. Tohru

blinked and then dropped her hand, grinning. "Never

mind," she said as they returned to the group.

00.24

Sasuke was waiting for Tohru as she crept outside of

the house. "Let's go," she said. Sasuke and Tohru had

gotten all of 30 meters when DJ dropped down in front

of them. "Where's my breakfast?" she asked. Tohru

smiled. "Waiting for you on the stove. I made it

before I left. There's enough for Kurai-kun and Gaara

if they're hungry." DJ nodded and dissolved into

smoke. Sasuke gave Tohru a look of disbelief. "She

sent a clone to ask about breakfast?" he asked as they

began to move again.

"That's DJ for you," Tohru chirped, "Now let's get

going."

The two picked up some speed and arrived easily within

five minutes. When they stopped, Tohru called out,

"We're here!" A figure dropped out of a tree and

Sasuke's eyes widened as he straightened and stood.

"Sasuke... foolish little brother." Sasuke's mind had

no time to react, and he was in front of Tohru, kunai

in hand, facing his older brother.

"Tohru, go back--get DJ and Kakashi-sensei, and

Naruto. Sakura, if you can... GO!" Tohru, to his

surprise, was pulling out weapons herself. "What are

you doing? Get out of here, there's not much time!"

"No way," Tohru said, flipping the kunai blades in her

hands so it was poised to be thrown, "If this is

really Uchiha Itachi, and I led you right to him, then

there's no way I'm going to let him go unpunished."

Itachi rose an eyebrow. "You think you can pass

judgment on me?" he asked.

"I just did, didn't I?" Tohru said, "Now are you going

to fight or talk?"

Itachi's eyes flashed red. "You have no right to judge

me," he said softly, "You know nothing about me."

"She only knows that your murdered your entire clan,"

said a voice from a tree. DJ dropped down, leaning

against a trunk with semi-interested features. "She

knows that you're with the Akatsuki, even if she

doesn't know what it is." Itachi looked slightly

amused.

"And who are you, who knows so much about me and my

past?" he asked, curious but still dangerous-looking.

"DJ," replied the figure, turning to Tohru. "Tohru, DJ

says the food was great. She's contacting Kakashi and

the cell. Give her a signal if you need backup." Tohru

shook her head as the two Uchihas realized it was a

clone. "We'll be fine," Tohru said. The clone nodded.

"If things heat up, let her know," it said as Itachi's

shuriken punctured its head, causing it to disspell in

a puff of smoke.

"DJ," Itachi mused to himself, glancing at Tohru. "She

seems too relaxed to be a ninja. Are you friends?" He

disappeared in a puff of smoke as Tohru's kunai lodged

in his head. Sasuke felt his breath catch as a

presence appeared behind him. Tohru turned in time to

see Sasuke flung at her, and the two gennin hit the

ground with a heavy thud, Sasuke unconscious and Tohru

gasping for breath. Itachi peered over Sasuke's

shoulder, glaring at the girl.

"Don't think you can stop me," he said softly, picking

up Sasuke's body. Tohru gasped for breath, fuming

inside. 'No...He can't take Sasuke-kun... I can't

let him do this! I've gotta stop him!' With a rush of

adrenaline, the Sharingan in her eye flared to life

and breath returned to her chest. She felt a sharp

pain in her right eye and shut it, but forced it open

as she caught Itachi's attention again.

Tohru appeared behind Itachi and went at his head,

causing the older Uchiha to drop Sasuke in his guard.

Tohru grabbed him and set him down by a tree, then

turned on her opponent. "You selfish son of a

bitch... don't you dare talk to me like that! You

have no right to kill Sasuke or anyone else for that

matter! Get it through your head, YOU-ARE-NOT-GOD!"

she yelled, throwing various weapons at Itachi. The

dark-haired man blocked the weapons with a single

kunai and then threw the knife into an adjacent tree,

red eyes flaring.

"YOU listen," he hissed, blood boiling, "how DARE you

presume all those things about me. If you're so

self-righteous, why didn't you accept the help your

friend offered? You're the one with the God complex."

Tohru laughed. "Don't try and get out of this--I don't

think I'm a God, unlike you. I just don't need help

beating your sorry ass."

Itachi's hand was at her throat, and she was against a

tree. Her eyes widened, and Itachi's fingers tensed,

nearly crushing her airway.

"No one speaks to me like that," he hissed, venom in

his voice.

He threw her at Sasuke, who cried out as she landed on

him. "Aaaggh--"

Itachi was about to advance when he turned his head,

listening. Frowning, he returned his gaze to Tohru,

who was on her feet again. "I'll see you again, little

girl. For now, play time must end."

"Damn straight play time's over," she said, rushing at

Itachi. The man simply stared down the attack, and

then dissipated into a sheet of mist. Tohru rushed

through it, cursing. Sasuke sat up, rubbing his

stomach. "Mmm..." He flinched, then looked up. A

battered Tohru stood in the morning sunlight, smiling

down at him.

"He's gone. We won, Sasuke-kun," she said before

collapsing on the ground. Sasuke's eyes widened and he

went to her side. When her eyes opened again, Sasuke

tensed. Two blood-red orbs glistened, both with

comma-less circles in the center. One eye faded back

to brown while the other continued to gaze up at him,

deep red. Sasuke shook his head, trying to clear his

mind of the images of his brother behind those eyes,

pulling down her headband to cover the eye, hoping to

stop the eye from using up all her chakra. He felt a

hand on his cheek and blinked down at the

brown-skinned girl.

"Sasuke-kun? Why do you look so sad?" Tohru asked.

"It's nothing," Sasuke replied, taking her hand away

from his face. Sasuke picked her up, and carried her

back toward the village.

00.25

Kakashi woke to the sound of his window being forced

open. Before he was fully awake he'd sent a kunai into

DJ's chest. His eye widened. "DJ--"

"I knew that would happen," DJ mused as her clone

dissolved, the kunai dropping to the floor. "so I sent

two." Kakashi sweatdropped. "What do you want so early

in the morning?"

"Tohru's being stupid and fighting someone. I've

already alerted Sakura and Naruto, and my main body is

on the move." Kakashi was about to ask where Tohru

was, but the clone dissolved. He rolled an eye as he

felt Naruto and Sakura's chakra approach. "I'm

supposed to follow my students... right." He got out

of bed and threw on his vest and weapons holster,

sandals, and leapt out to meet his students. He found

DJ leading Sakura and Naruto toward the forest.

Dropping down from the roof tops, he fell in step with

his students.

"Took you long enough," DJ said as they barreled on.

"Tohru's stopped just ahead," DJ said, then frowned.

"No, wait--Sasuke's stopped. Tohru's still moving."

This worried Kakashi. "What happened?"

"They were confronted by Uchiha Itachi," DJ replied.

Kakashi's eye widened.

Naruto's ears perked up. "Sasuke's aniki?"

Sakura frowned. "He's never mentioned an older brother

before..."

"That's for him to tell you," DJ said, not trusting

herself with spilling Itachi's secrets before Sasuke

was ready for his teammates to know. Kakashi's eye

narrowed. "Not every person knows about the Uchiha's

past..."

"Well, I'm not ever person," replied the long-haired

girl as she came to a slower pace, "and neither is

Tohru." They crossed a few more meters and came upon

the two gennin. DJ threw herself at the bloody

battered girl in Sasuke's arms.

"Hey! You shouldn't have waited so long to call me!"

she admonished, Tohru wincing at the volume, "I missed

all the action!"

Sasuke let DJ take the girl from his arms, looking to

his own wounds. Sakura gave an 'oh!' and rushed over

to help him. The youngest Uchiha gave her a look.

"Tohru faced off against a strong opponent," he said

as Sakura bent down to look at him, "you should be

worried about her condition." Sakura frowned, put out,

but left him and looked over Tohru's wounds. Kakashi

squatted next to Sasuke as the others fussed over

Tohru.

"What really happened?" he asked, "was Itachi

really..."

"Yes," Sasuke said, "he was here." Kakashi looked

around nonchalantly. "Did he leave?"

"I don't know how far he got," Sasuke said, "but he

might come back." His face darkened. "Also... Tohru

somehow has the Sharingan eye--in both eyes."

This shocked Kakashi. "How?"

"I don't know... it looks as if her right eye is

uncontrollable, it kept spinning even after she

collapsed." Kakashi nodded as Tohru moved away from

her worried teammates to check up on Sasuke.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke said, "worry about yourself."

Tohru frowned. "Not until you're ok. It's my fault--"

"Tohru," Naruto interrupted, "Sasuke may be a stubborn

bastard--"

"Naruto!"

"--but he can handle himself. We're worried about

you." Tohru blushed. Kakashi stood up. "I've got to

report this to the Hokage. You all stay on alert and

keep this to yourselves. We don't want to cause a

panic." He disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving

the five gennin alone. Naruto grinned.

"Yosh--no training! Anyone want to go out for ramen?"

DJ immediately volunteered. "I'll go," she said,

perking out of the worried mood that had settled over

the group. Sasuke got to his feet. "I'm going to

train," he announced.

"Not in your condition," Tohru said, "You're coming

with us."

"Yeah," Sakura added, latching onto his arm, "there's

no way we can let you go, especially if your brother's

after you." Sasuke looked at Sakura. "How'd you know?"

Sakura looked at Tohru shyly. "Tohru said that Itachi

was after you..." Sasuke gave Tohru a look. "What

else do you know?" he asked, his voice soft. Tohru

went to reply, then stopped, looking at the other

members of her cell. "I... are you sure... you don't

mind them knowing?"

"They'll hear sooner or later," Sasuke said, "if you

know, I'd rather they hear it from you, now, not as a

rumor." Tohru nodded.

"All right," she said as Sasuke looked at her

expectantly, "I only know that Itachi was the one who

killed your entire clan, save you, when he turned 16."

Naruto's eyes widened and Sakura's hands flew to her

mouth. The blonde was looking at his rival with a new

gaze, a sort of understanding filling an empty space

in his heart and mind. Sasuke had had parents--only to

have them slaughtered by someone who shared his blood

and his mother's womb before him. He had once had a

caring mother, and a proud father. He once had a

family, and that family had been taken away by someone

that Naruto was sure was once precious to his

dark-haired rival. Naruto was almost glad to have

never known a parent's love as Sakura's eyes brimmed

with tears. "Sasuke-kun..."

The Uchiha shook his head. "I don't need your

pity--that's the last thing I want," he hissed before

dropping his voice a few levels, "That's the reason I

never told anyone. I don't need all those pitying

gazes on my back." A hand landed heavily on his

shoulder and he looked up in surprise to see Naruto

growling. "JERK! Is THIS why you walk around with a

stick up your ass!" Tohru and DJ jumped at the

volume. "Naruto-kun," Tohru began, but the blonde

shinobi drowned her out.

"You're such a bastard! I can't believe that's what

you've been on about this whole time!" Sasuke screwed

up his face. "Shut it, dobe. You don't have any

idea--"

WHAM

Naruto's fist connected cleanly with Sasuke's cheek,

sending him to the ground as Sakura screamed. Tohru

ran at Naruto, confused and angry that this was the

reaction he was having to Sasuke opening up to them,

but DJ grabbed her arm. "Wait," she said, "just wait."

Naruto stood over Sasuke, glowering.

"So, you're like this because you miss your family?"

Naruto hissed, his hand balling into a fist. Sasuke

nodded. "You couldn't understand, dobe."

"Yes, I can and I do," Naruto said suddenly level with

the other boy, blue eyes sharp and clear, "Yes, I can

because we're your family!"

Sasuke's eyes widened. Sakura and Tohru blinked, and

DJ sighed in relief. "Naruto..."

The blonde gestured to the five of them, punching a

fist at the sky. "One night, that night, when we all

shared our blood... Before that, we spent nights

together in enemy territory, training, and just being

a team. If that doesn't make us family, nothing does!"

Sasuke's wide eyes were focused on Naruto's

passion-filled ones with no small amount of awe as

Naruto proclaimed their kinship.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto's right," Tohru said, walking over

towards them and kneeling next to the dark-haired boy.

"We're a family. To be honest, I didn't think of our

team like that before, but now I see." Naruto grinned.

"See? We're family."

Everyone jumped as Kakashi poofed back. "Hm? What'd I

miss?" he asked. Sakura gave a frustrated groan and

Sasuke hid a smile. Tohru beamed. "Feel better?" she

asked the Uchiha. Sasuke nodded.

"ALL RIGHT! Let's celebrate by going out for ramen!

You pay!" Naruto said, slapping Sasuke on the back.

"What!" Sasuke asked, flustered by the sudden

comraderie. The rest of his teammates laughed at his

expense as they watched the two argue all the way to

the restraunt.

Later that night, Sasuke woke up, and his eyes

widened. "How... did I get stuck with the bill?"


	6. Chapter 6: Love actually

00.26

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto yet, but I'm working on Sasuke at the moment.

The next morning Sakura woke up blushing and breathing

heavily. She just had a dream... about Naruto.

'Wha... what was that about?' she thought as she sat

up, bringing her knees protectively to her chest. 'Why

did I have a dream about that goof-off? I usually have

good dreams about Ino or Sasuke-kun or my parents...'

She shook her head. 'This is silly--I should get out

of bed and clear my head up.' The pink-haired girl

rose and stripped off her night gown and took a towel

to the bathroom. Turning on the shower, she ran a

brush through her hair while she waited for the water

to heat. 'What a weird dream...' Sakura thought as

she put down the brush, 'I thought...'

She shut her eyes as she let the water run over her,

replaying the dream in her mind.

((flashback))

DREAM

((end flashback))

Sakura stepped out of the shower, wrapping her hair up

after drying off. "Naruto seemed so... so...

different in that dream," she murmured to herself as

she pulled fresh clothes on, "he was like how he was

yesterday. It was... very cool." Shaking out her

hair, she ran a brush through the wet pink strands,

and once they were knot-free, she headed downstairs.

"Mom, I'm going out for breakfast," she called as she

headed for the door.

"All right," said her mother, "take care!"

"I will, mom," Sakura replied as she opened the door.

"GOOD MORNING!"

Sakura blinked several times before realizing she had

a beaming blonde boy in her doorway. "Naruto?" she

asked curiously, tilting her head to the side, "what

are you doing outside my house?" Naruto grinned. "I

just wanted to see if Sakura-chan had eaten breakfast

already, and if she was interested in eating it with

me?"

Sakura thought about it. "Well, where were you

planning on eating?"

Naruto's eyes bulged. 'She's--she's considering it?

This could be a... a...' "...a date!" Naruto

whispered to himself, eyes turning into hearts as

Sakura looked at him funny. "Naruto?"

The blonde snapped out of it. 'That's right--date!

Can't let this get away!'

"Well, I'll have you know that I was planning on going

to Misa's Cafe this morning." Sakura's eyes widened.

"What? You mean that cute little breakfast and lunch

cafe that opened up just three months ago? I've never

been!" she exclaimed, "That's awesome Naruto! Why

don't we invite Sasuke-kun and Tohru-kun, too? And

DJ?" Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his

head.

"Eh-heh-heh... I ... I was kinda hoping that it

could just be... y'know... the two of us?"

Sakura's excitement ebbed. "Oh?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, because I can only afford to pay for so many

people... and with Misa's Cafe being so expensive and

all that..." He shifted on his feet, flushing a bit.

"...I'd hate to have to ask the others to pitch in

for paying."

Sakura looked at Naruto in disbelief. "You mean you'd

pay for the food?"

Naruto sweatdropped. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

Sakura smiled. "Well... most of the time," she said in

a sing-song voice, skipping down towards the corner.

Naruto stared after her blushing, and then realized he

was being left behind, and ran to catch up with her.

00.27

Sasuke was up at the time he usually rose, despite the

wounds from the day before. With a grunt, he pulled

himself out of the bed and pulled on a pair of shorts

and sandals before there was a sound at his window. He

let the window open, and Kakashi put his head in.

"Good to see you're up and looking chipper this

morning," he said happily, "I don't have anything to

do for us to day, so don't bother coming to the

bridge. You can see what the others are up to,

though." Sasuke nodded, wondering about the red

hand-shaped imprint on his teacher's face, but said

nothing about it. Kakashi beamed at his student and

disappeared, leaving Sasuke to wonder how he was going

to fill the remainder of his morning.

After grabbing two pork buns, Sasuke wandered about

the village, catching a glimpse of his other teammates

at a small cafe, eating and arguing. DJ and Tohru were

understandably absent. 'DJ's probably still sleeping,'

he thought as his feet took him wherever, 'and Tohru's

probably being flattered into making her food.' He

glanced up as he walked, wondering where he'd ended

up. To his slight surprise, Lee was coming straight at

him, possibly over 65 mph. He watched, slightly

fascinated as the boy came to a dime-halt some five

feet from his personal space.

"SASUKE-KUN! How wonderful!"

Before Sasuke could hope to discover what was

wonderful about nearly being run over by a green blur

of grins and corniness, Lee had dragged him out to the

training grounds. The Uchiha heir stared at Lee and

yanked his hand away as Gai appeared.

"Wonderful! This is truly excellent, Lee, that you

found Uchiha-kun! For now, we can evenly group off and

spar in perfect pairs!"

Before Sasuke could ask if he had a choice in the

matter, Neji Hyuuga was declared his 'glorious partner

of youth', and the stoic nin nodded, taking Sasuke by

the shoulder and dragging him away from the sparkling

grin that had blinded his unfortunate age-mate.

Once they were far enough away from the others, and

Gai's blazing grin of paralyzing/blinding doom, Neji

released Sasuke and the black-eyed gennin dropped on

his ass, eyes wide and still holding a half-eaten pork

bun. Neji eyed him curiously. "Lee pulled you off the

street, didn't he?" Sasuke could only nod, the

situation having taken place too quickly for him to

really realize what had happened. The Hyuuga buried

his face in a hand. "That idiot..." Sasuke shrugged,

thinking of Naruto.

"There's one in every crowd. You learn to love 'em."

Neji nodded absently, then sat down next to Sasuke. "I

heard about what happened yesterday."

"How?"

"Gai-sensei walked in while Kakashi was relaying it to

Hokage-sama. He's sworn us all to secrecy, but I'm

more concerned about him blabbing." Sasuke nodded,

still tense. Neji paused, looking down at his lap. "I

don't ... know much about your family," he said

softly, gaze drifting away from Sasuke, "and I don't

want to be intrusive..." The white-eyed boy paused

again, and turned back to Sasuke. "I don't want to ask

... unless it won't bother you."

"You don't want to spar?" Sasuke asked, curious. Neji

smirked. "Gai also overheard the extent of your

injuries," he replied, nodding at Sasuke's stomach

where Itachi had winded him the day before. Sasuke's

free hand went to his stomach, eyes cast on the

ground. Neji realized that he'd touched on a taboo

subject. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Sasuke said, looking up. "I want to get

stronger... to avenge my clan, and so I can prove to

myself that I haven't wasted the past nine years of my

life." Neji looked at him for a while in the silence

that followed. For some reason, the white eyed boy's

gaze didn't bother Sasuke as much as it should have.

"Hey," Neji said after a few minutes, "did you sustain

any other injuries?" Sasuke shook his head.

"No. Thank you." Not satisfied, Neji activated his

Byakugan. Sasuke squirmed under the all-seeing gaze as

Neji bent closer, scrutinizing the extent of the wound

and of Sasuke's words. "I'm fine," he insisted, Neji

de-activating his eyes as Sasuke's hand fell on his

shoulder. The black-haired boy paused as he realized

that Neji was well within his personal bubble. In

fact, the other boy had been beside him for more than

a few minutes. Sasuke flushed slightly as Neji moved

closer, a bandaged hand reaching out to brush along

his chin and neckline. "I'm fine, Neji. Really,"

Sasuke said softly, eyes gazing anywhere but Neji's

face. The Hyuuga didn't respond for a moment, studying

the other boy. Then, without much warning, he leaned

forwards and planted a gentle, chaste kiss on Sasuke's

lips. The pork bun dropped unceremoniously to the

ground and stayed there. Neji pulled back and looked

over Sasuke's stunned face, taking note of the slight

coloring of his cheeks, and then stood. "I'll tell

Gai-sensei you're not up to sparring," Neji said as he

walked away. Sasuke sat back, looking at nothing in

particular, a hand on his mouth and after a while he

decided to go find lunch.

The pork bun lay forgotten on the training grounds.

00.28

DJ blinked her eyes open. "I smell no food," she said

to herself as she sat up, clad in only undergarments

and a large T shirt. About to call forth the glorious

deity of the kitchen, DJ recalled the previous day's

encounter with Itachi, and decided that this would be

a good time to change the sheets on her bed and the

towels in the bathroom (a relatively simple and quiet

task). She got out of bed and pulled the pillow

covering off her own pillow and the sheets from her

bed. Kakashi tapped on the window to let her know that

he was there. He sat, perplexed, as DJ walked back and

forth in a large T shirt, totally ignoring him, and

performing what appeared to be some kind of morning

chore. He tapped again, louder. DJ didn't look up from

her job as a clone appeared silently by the window,

opening the glass. "What do you want?" she hissed

through clenched teeth. "Just checking in," Kakashi

said. "Well Tohru's trying to recover from yesterday,"

DJ hissed venomously, "ever give that a thought?"

Suddenly, from his left, Kakshi heard a rustling, and

the clone dissolved. Tohru, clad only in

undergarments, rose halfway out of bed and looked

around.

"Mmm... DJ? Up so early... G'morning,

Kakashi-sensei..."

Suddenly, Tohru tore the covers off her bed, wrapped

herself in them, and beamed the silver-haired jounin

with a book lying near her bed.

"PERVERT -- Kakashi-sensei!" DJ looked over at the

two and then made a noise of interest.

CRACK

The sound of a slap echoed for miles.

"...I also wanted to let you know that we have no

missions today," Kakashi said, nursing the red hand

print on his cheek, half covered by the face mask. DJ

looked at the carpet beneath the window.

"Oh my," she said, only slightly interested, "somehow

a small pool of blood has developed beneath the

windowsill..."

Only moments later, a silver topped blurr was ejected

from the building, a thin trail of blood in his path

as the cry of "PERVERT!" thundered from the house.

00.29

Kurai and the three sand siblings walked the streets

of Konoha in the early mornings. The brown-skinned boy

was walking behind the two older sand siblings when

the eldest pointed to a shop and Tenmari wandered off

towards it, waving. The three left continued on

together for a while, admiring Konoha's shops and

stores as they began to open for business on a rather

relaxed day. Silence reigned, but a comfortable

silence. They enjoyed each other's company, with the

occasional comment on the repetitive leaf symbol upon

every single shop, or how things seemed different from

home. Light began to fill the streets, and stores

continued to open, like flowers opening to welcome the

sun's rays. Further up the streets, Kankuro spotted a

small dark dusty magazine shop and excused himself

from the group to investigate. That left Kurai with

Gaara. The two walked on, not much else to do. The two

red heads glanced at various stores and some cafes,

enjoying their scenic morning route. Without warning

or words at all, Gaara suddenly turned and walked over

to a restaurant. In the window, one of the girls from

yesterday was sitting. Kurai walked on alone, taking

out a cigarette and lighting it. He passed several old

women with woven baskets, out to be the first at the

market that morning. He nodded at them all as he

passed, their wrinkled old faces smiling up at him in

pleasure. One of them even said how nice it was that

he was out and about. "Young people these days don't

get out much no more. It's all about money, and

missions, and small, frilly things. Oooh, what a deal

-- five for the price of three!"

The gennin eventually tore himself away from the

market area and made his way down the main streets,

heading back towards the edge of the village. A tall

jounin passed, frowning at the lit cigarette.

"You shouldn't be smoking at your age," he said. Kurai

walked past, his eyes gazing over the older man, and

then passing on, blowing a cloud of smoke between

them.

"You shouldn't be chewing on toothpicks at your age,"

he replied. The jounin just shifted the toothpick in

his lips and then sent it at the cigarette. The lit

end dropped on the pavement. Kurai turned around to

give the man a piece of his mind and thensome, but

faced an empty street.

"Well... shit."

00.30

Gaara opened the door of the restaurant, ignoring the

hostess asking how many people were in his party and

seating himself next to the window. The person across

from him was busy eating her way through what looked

like it might have attempted to be spaghetti

underneath the mountain of cheese. Next to that was a

glass of water and two plates of breadsticks. DJ ate,

and Gaara sat.

"Eat," DJ offered, pushing a bread stick in front of

the red haired boy. Gaara sat still for a moment, and

then reached out to take the bread while DJ are away

at the mountain of cheese. (and noodles)

"...where's Tohru?" DJ swallowed a spoonful. "She's

shopping. We're out of food." Gaara nodded knowingly;

the two girls had gone from feeding just themselves to

treating a party of four. As Gaara finished off the

breadstick some time later, DJ pushed the plate away

from her and stood up. She was fishing in her pockets

for change when Gaara put some bills on the table. DJ

stopped rummaging and took the other teen's arm,

dragging him out of the building. The two moved

through the streets, a few gennin staring at DJ's

audacity. They came to a small ice cream parlor. The

long-haired girl dragged her friend into a booth and

then left him, his curious gaze following her to the

counter. When she returned, she carried two spoons, a

little less money, and what appeared to be a

leaning-tower-of-ice-cream scoops. The sand nin looked

at the wobbling monstrosity and then to the kunoichi.

"How many flavors did you get?"

DJ shrugged, digging her spoon in. "Let's find out."


End file.
